With it being panto season I think it only fitting that we shine a light for all those ugly sisters out there. The knobbly, gnarly, slightly odd looking ugly siblings who rarely get to take centre stage. Get down to the shops and get yourself a celeriac as it’s their time to go to the ball.

For years we’ve adorned our crudité party platters with elegant slivers of celery but this winter I ask that you give its close relative celeriac a go. It averages at £1 a go, it’s seriously good for you and rather delicious.

If you’ve never tried it I would compare the taste to that of a love child borne of a celery-turnip-parsley orgy.

Celeriac is a brilliant source of vitamin K1. If you were to have around 150g of celeriac you’d be getting 64 µg of vitamin K1, which is just shy of the daily recommended intake for a 65kg person – you’re looking for1 µg for every kg (excluding pregnant or lactating women).

And why do we want vitamin K? Well, it’s essential for blood clotting and the production of structural and regulatory proteins in your bones, like osteocalcin. Osteocalcin is a protein that allows calcium to bind itself nice and tightly to your bone tissue.

A 2001 study by Roche ltd claims that there is increasing evidence that vitamin K positively affects calcium balance and some research even suggests that those with lower rates of bone fractures have been associated with better Vitamin K1 status. So, if you’re planning on throwing some shapes at the office Christmas party maybe up the celeriac to avoid a trip A&E. That being said, evidence on this is rather equivocal.

This power root also contains phosphorus, vitamin b6 & b5, vitamin c, iron, copper, manganese and sodium – they may look beastly but it’s what’s inside that counts and that’s precisely why we love celeriac. It’s great with fish, thinly sliced into salads, chopped into soup and mashed up with swede.

Celeriac, turnip celery, celery root, or my personal favourite - knob celery - whatever you want to call this rotund root, ugly isn’t one of them.

Hannah's Hacks

#1 It was first discovered growing wild in the Mediterranean

#2 In France it's known as an ache-douce

#3 It was mentioned in Homer's poem Odyssey as selinon

Article originally published on The Detox Kitchen blog