Celery

Celery is delicious vegetable and yet under used.

It is mostly used for soups or chopped in a tuna or chicken salad. I love celery, it is always available and it is economical. I like it braised with tomato and olives, I like it baked in the oven with cheese and I love making a salad with the celery leaves and shavings of Grana Padano cheese There is not much work in cleaning celery, just peel the strings that run along the ribs which can be annoying to eat. To remove them, I take a peeler and lightly run it along the back of the celery rib. Also when you are trimming the base or the top of the stalk, don’t just chop away, hold the stalk in your hands and cut from the inside of the stalk to the outside without cutting all the way through. Then before finishing the cut, pull the knife toward you with your thumb holding the uncut celery strings. The strings should peel off down the length of the stalk.