All for some celery

There’s a lot you can do with this versatile vegetable

Thai salad with celery. Photo: Special Arrangement

Often, a vegetable or protein finds a place on the menus of Michelin-starred restaurants, as a star ingredient in Masterchef contests and in humble home-cooked meals. Right now, it seems to be celery’s turn to be in the limelight.

For me, the revelation that the vegetable is so versatile coincided with the availability of fresh celery with big juicy stalks in the local supermarkets. I found myself buying celery week after week and incorporating it into my diet on a regular basis. The stems can be braised and the leaves used as a herb or a garnish. Celeriac, the part of the stem that enlarges like a bulb below the ground in some varieties, can be served as a silken puree with red meats. Every part of the plant can be used for culinary purposes. Try using a celery stalk in a Bloody Mary cocktail. It infuses freshness to the cocktail and can be used to stir the drink every now and then. Some recipes for Bloody Mary even recommend the use of celery salt, which adds quite a punch.

Celery is also associated with weight-loss diets due to its low calorie dietary fibre. A picture of a model chewing on a stalk of celery is a familiar image. Celery stalks blended with strawberries, mint leaves, flax seeds and coconut water makes an excellent smoothie. I add celery stalks to almost any smoothie as I love the flavour and the fibre keeps me full for a longer time.

If you make your own stock for soups and roasts, try adding more celery to the stock than what the recipe calls for. It alters the taste of the final dish and provides a refreshing change to your recipes that have become monotonous.

Celery is an essential ingredient in a Caesar Salad. But, with a little bit of creativity and imagination, celery can be incorporated into other salads or even be the main ingredient in a familiar salad.

Thai salad with celery

Ingredients

4 celery stalks, sliced diagonally

2 spring onion, thinly sliced

1 green chilli, finely chopped after removing the seeds and inner membrane

1/3 cup coriander leaves

1 small carrot, grated

1/4 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp fish sauce (optional)

1 tbsp jaggery/brown sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:In a large bowl, toss together celery, spring onion, green chilli, coriander leaves and carrot. Whisk oil, lime juice, fish sauce, jaggery, salt and pepper together in another bowl for the dressing. Pour on the vegetables and stir gently. Sprinkle with peanuts and stir once before serving.