How to buy and use celery to its full potential

Although celery will never win a star for its nutritional properties, it's an excellent snacking vegetable. Here are some tips for getting the best celery, and using it to its full potential.

• Celery is available all year.
• Choose firm stalks that are pale to medium green, with crisp, fresh-looking leaves.
• The greener the stalk, the more intense the celery flavour.
• Celery can be sweet or bitter. It's hard to tell just by looking, so scratch the bottom of a bunch with your fingernail. If it smells bitter, it'll taste bitter.

• Wrap celery in layers of damp paper towel and store in the crisper section of the refrigerator. It should keep for up to two weeks.
• Keep away from the coldest parts of the refrigerator – the back and side walls. Celery freezes easily, becoming limp and unusable.
• After trimming celery, cut into either end of the stalk with a small, sharp knife. Pull down and out to remove stringy fibres.

Every part of the celery plant is usable:

• Add the strongly flavoured leaves to soups and stews for seasoning.
• Cut up the outer ribs and sauté, braise or stir-fry with other vegetables.
• Tender inner stalks can be included on raw vegetable platters or to snack on.

• Along with onions, chopped celery is an essential seasoning in many traditional soups, stews, casseroles and other mixed dishes, including the stuffing for poultry.
• To cook celery as a side dish, slice stalks and sauté in peanut oil.
• Alternatively, cut stalks into five centimetre (two inch) lengths and simmer in stock. Eat as is, or sprinkle with grated cheese and place under the grill until lightly browned.

For finger food, fill five centimetre (two inch) lengths of celery stalk with:

• Cream cheese with chopped onions and chives or chopped peppers
• Curried egg salad
• Chicken salad combined with dill mayonnaise
• A blend of cottage and blue cheeses
• Peanut butter

Packed into two medium stalks celery:

• 10 calories
• Polyacetylene, a medicinal substance that helps reduce inflammation
• Potassium to maintain blood pressure
• Vitamin C for healthy teeth and gums

With a low calorie count and distinctive flavour, celery is a popular vegetable for a variety of reasons. Plus, it's so versatile that, with a little experimentation, you could see it popping up in your cooking more and more.

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