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Home » Diet » More Than A Diet Food: Rethinking Celery With 3 Delicious Recipes – Here And Now

Celery is like a middle child: It's dependable, frequently ignored and most often seriously undervalued. Its the one vegetable that you can almost always find in the grocery store.

Celery is crisp, green, crunchy and flavorful. Its inexpensive and gets relegated to the lowly status of diet food. Try to recall the last time you heard someone say, I just ate the best stalk of celery!"

Its time to rethink celery. It is a highly adaptable vegetable and can be used as the base of a soup, salad, sauce or relish. Its a distinctive part of a Bloody Mary and the only healthy element to a plate of Buffalo Chicken Wings. Celery mixes well with fresh herbs, cheese, fresh fruit and salads. It can be added to stir fries, braised, made into a creamy gratin, juiced, dunked into salsa and dips. The celery cavity can be filled with peanut butter and raisins (Ants on a Log, anyone?) or filled with cream cheese and olives.

Its almost impossible to imagine stuffing, tuna fish, egg salad or potato salad without celery. What would sandwiches look like without a requisite, lonely stalk of celery at its side?

To peel or not to peel

Peeling celery sounds like a fussy chef trick, right? Well, not always. The outer stalks, which tend to be a darker green, can be stringier and more fibrous and can benefit from a quick peel. Simply use a vegetable peeler to remove the outermost layer. Youll know its time to stop when the celery color gets paler.

Do you need to peel celery? No. Try it and see if you like the difference. Save peelings and the celery root to add to vegetable and meat stocks.

Can I eat the celery leaves?

Absolutely! Celery leaves, which grow at the top of the stalks, are full of flavor and can be used like parsley to garnish dishes, add flavor to sauces and more. Dont throw them out!

Health benefits of celery

Celery is low in saturated fat and very low in cholesterol. It can lower your blood pressure and is a good source of Vitamin C, fiber, potassium, Vitamin B6, iron and calcium. It is a great antioxidant and is said to reduce inflammation and help digestion.

And celery has virtually no calories. Some say that the mere 7 to 10 calories per stalk is burned up when you chew it (Why arent more foods like that?). But, according to the Mayo Clinic, there are no proven scientific studies showing that celery is a negative calorie food. Surprisingly, the vegetable is said to be high in sodium so be aware if youre on a low sodium diet.

Shopping for celery

Look for bunches of celery that are tightly formed with firm, green stalks and a healthy head of celery leaves at the top. The stalks should snap off when separated and not bend or wilt. Celery will keep stored in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator for at least a week. When celery begins to turn yellow or look wilted it can still be used to flavor stocks but will have lost all its crunch.

Light, refreshing and colorful, this winter salad has crunch, vibrancy and a ton of flavor. Celery stalks are lightly peeled and chopped on the diagonal and tossed with very thin slices of fresh fennel and shavings of nutty Parmesan cheese. You can add all kinds of other ingredients to this simple salad, like thin slices of peeled pear or apple or toasted nuts.

Serves 2 to 4.

Ingredients

Instructions

Celery root (also called celeriac) and fresh celery stalks are sauted with leeks (or an onion) and then simmered with vegetable or chicken stock. The creaminess and full flavor of the soup are astonishing considering how few ingredients are used, not to mention that there is no dairy in the soup.

If you want to make a topping: Chopped celery and piquant capers are sauted for just a few minutes and they add great dimension to the soup. You can also add a drizzle of olive oil or lemon-flavored olive oil.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Optional Celery-Caper Topping

Instructions

A gratin is a rich, warming plate of comfort food. Sweet celery is cut into big chunks and topped with milk, cream, and grated cheese and baked until soft. This gratin makes an excellent side dish to any roast, with fish or can be served as a winter main course with a green salad.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

Instructions

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More Than A Diet Food: Rethinking Celery With 3 Delicious Recipes - Here And Now

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Home » Diet » More Than A Diet Food: Rethinking Celery With 3 Delicious Recipes – Here And Now