During my workout yesterday afternoon, I stumbled upon an inspiring article in my Organic Gardening magazine.

The topic: a chef that doesn’t waste any part of the vegetable.  Mimicking the “nose to tail” movement — wasting no part of an animal — he aims to do the same with all of his ingredients.

Needless to say, I was intrigued, inspired, and a little nervous.

We’re forever in possession of the root ends of celery (we use the stalks in our smoothies), which is something he uses quite frequently.  I figured this would be a safe place to embark on this new way of thinking about compostables…

I had in mind a salad built around these roasted celery roots.  Something citrus filled, with a creamy, crumbly cheese to balance out the flavors.

I had on hand the following:

• Celery (roots, stalks, and leaves)
• Oranges
• Green Onions
• Goat Cheese

Perfect!

What I did:

Quarter your celery root bits and toss with olive oil.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a liberal amount of pepper.  Roast at 425 for 45 minutes.

In the meantime, slice your green onions and section your oranges.  Reserve any extra orange juice for a vinaigrette.

Pinch the leaves off of your remaining celery stalks (try to choose the lighter green ones — they’re less bitter).

Mix a tablespoon of dijon, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, a glug of olive oil, and any remaining orange juice in a bowl.  Add pepper if desired.

Toss all ingredients, including roasted roots, in a large bowl with vinaigrette.  Plate and top with goat cheese and (MORE) black pepper.

INHALE!

No joke: this salad topped my charts…