21-Day Detox Day 15: Buttery Celery Root Puree & Greek Island Chicken

My new favorite Wednesday evening activity is heading over to the Castro Farmer's Market with my daughter after picking her up from daycare. The farmer's market is open from 4pm-8pm and has a variety of organic farmers who sell beautiful produce, pastured eggs, and free-range meats.

One of my favorite vendors at the market is Farmhouse Culture. They make a variety of amazing sauerkraut, ranging from traditional caraway to curry cauliflower. I've been buying a pound of Ginger Beet each week, which my daughter picked out herself. The kraut is extremely authentic and was created by Kathryn Lukas, who was a chef-owner of a restaurant in Stuttgart, Germany. Headquarterd in Santa Cruz, Farmhouse Culture serves up a variety of flavors with local charm, like Apple/Fennel. According to their site, "sauerkraut is a true raw superfood, high in Vitamin C and full of beneficial pro-biotic enzymes. Naturally fermented raw vegetables are rich in lactic acid, an essential aid to good digestion. In fact, forkful by forkful, you’ll get more vitamins in raw sauerkraut than in plain raw cabbage, since the fermentation process boosts and concentrates vitamin levels and digestibility. Research suggests that raw sauerkraut may also have anti-carcinogenic benefits–benefits that are largely lost when kraut is industrially processed." You can also find them in Whole Foods and Rainbow. I really recommend you pick up a jar or 2 or 3.

For breakfast, I made a batch of Cool as a Cucumber

For lunch I made a celery root puree. Celery, aka Celeriac, is a vegetable the reminds me of Paris. I am a huge Francophile. I love everything French. I recently redecorated our bedroom and master bathroom to feel like a Parisian getaway. Whenever I have celery root, I feel transported to the City of Lights. And so, I try to eat it as often as possible to reminisce and to feel transported. Celeriac tastes a bit like celery but with a more nutty flavor. It also shares many healing properties as celery. It cools heat in the liver, which is often associated with headaches and a desire to overeat. It helps renew joints and connective tissues due to its high silicon content. Celeriac is also useful for arthritic conditions such as gout.

Buttery Celery Root Puree

Ingredients:
1 celery root
2 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp Sunny Paris Seasoning
1/4 tsp cayenne
3 tsp salt

Process:
1. Clean celery root by cutting off "skin

2. Cut up celery root

3. Place celery root in pot with water and cook until soft (20-25 minutes)

4. Once cooked, place celery root, ghee, seasoning, cayenne, salt and 3/4 cup of cooking water into a Vitamix or other blender

5. Puree, if using Vitamix, puree on level 4 for about 2-3 minutes
6. Scoop out and Enjoy!

For dinner, I served the celery root with chicken thighs and sprinkled it with kale chips for added texture and with a side of Ginger Beet sauerkraut.

Greek Island Chicken

Ingredients:
3 organic chicken thighs
1 tbsp ghee
3 tsp salt
3 tsp Sunny Greek Island Seasoning
2 tsp Sumac

Process:
1. Heat oil on grill pan
2. Sprinkle thighs with seasoning, sumac, and salt

3. Placed thighs on grill pan and cook for 8 minutes on one side

4. Flip and cook for another 6 minutes


5. Enjoy!