Paleo Shrimp and Grits
Grits are not paleo, but groots are. Groots are our take on grits, Paleo style. It’s celery root, hence the g-roots, pureed with a little fat and some stock. Oh how creamy, dreamy it is. It has a slight celery flavor, but a texture similar to creamy grits. All you non-Southerners out there, grits are ground up corn–prepared like rice, but takes literally 5 minutes to cook–think polenta.
Ingredients
- 1 lb peeled, deveined shrimp
- 2 medium sized celery roots
- 1/2 c chicken, beef or veggie stock
- 6 slices bacon
- 1/2 onion
- 2 gloves garlic
- 1 T tomato paste
- 1 T chili garlic sauce (any other hot sauce will do)
- 2 oz cheese (optional)
- 1 T minced thyme
- S&P
Method
Cut the ends off the celery roots and slice the skin off (see pics). Slice the root into 1/3′s, then rotate and slice into thick sticks, then slice into rough squares. Toss the roots into a pot of salted water and boil until softened, about 10 minutes. Get out your blender and place the roots inside, along with the stock, cheese and 2 T of bacon fat from the saute pan (see below). Pulse until you reach a smooth consistency. Stir it around and/or add more stock if the mixture isn’t cooperating. S&P to your liking.
Cook your bacon in a saute pan. Once it’s browned, remove the bacon and crumble. Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the shrimp, tomato paste, thyme and hot sauce. Cook until the shrimp have turned pink.
Place the “groots” into a bowl, add shrimp, crumbled bacon and many, many spoonfuls of the tomato gravy.
if anyone is wondering, a little google-ing has turned up that 1C celery root has about 9g carbohydrates vs. 1C of corn grits at about 31g carbohydrates (aside from the grain issue)
sweet, i have a celery root languising away in my fridge, and wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Maybe I bought tiny celery roots, but we were short on “groots” with the 3 that I bought. Wondering if cauliflower would work as well (and be less expensive). Awesome dinner and super flavorful shrimp!
i’ve tried to make cauliflower mash two times, both being inedible. the mash was more like granules–never a smooth consistency and the cauliflower never seemed to absorb liquid, so it was weeping out. if you can get it to the right consistency, i definitely think it would work great with the shrimp. let me know if you find success!
another idea, you could try to stretch out the celery root puree by adding more stock.
[...] 11.01.29 Paleo Shrimp & Groots [...]
Made this last night. Yet another home-run from you guys. Not only was this really easy to make but its even better today, now that all the flavors have had a chance to marry! YUM!!
I want to try the groots, but we don’t eat a lot of shrimp. What could I make to go with it instead?
Being a die hard southern, low country cuisine lovin’ girl, I can’t wait to try this. My suggestion if someone can’t eat shrimp is to try it with scallops (which are also a shell fish so might not work). Next would be a white fish such as flounder or grouper.
Groots great… and I don’t even like grits. Modified it slightly and substituted frogs legs in a spicy black bean sauce for the shrimp.
Eating this as I type! Absolutely wonderful! I loved the Groots! I might make some this weekend and have them for breakfast with some honey!
[...] SHRIMP AND GROOTS From Health-Bent [...]
My grocery didn’t have celery root, so I used parsnip instead. It turned out wonderful! Thanks for the great recipe. I can’t wait to try it with celery root.
very cool. never though a/b using parsnip. thanks for the inspiration!
Tried it tonight with celery root. It was good with parsnip, but the celery root rocked! I liked it better than actual grits. The celery root just gives the dish it another dimension. Thanks again for the recipe.
nice. you’re very welcome scotty.