Celery – Ripley Farm

Availability: Sometimes in summer

Storage tips: Refrigerate in a plastic bag. Celery should store for at least 2 weeks. Separate leaves from stalks for best storage and use leaves quickly.

How to eat: Celery is excellent raw in salads (veggie salads or meat/egg salads). It's also great in soup and raw with dip.

How to preserve: Freeze it! I freeze it simply chopped up as I would use it in a soup and that way it's easy to use straight out of the freezer. The texture is lost so it doesn't lend itself to raw uses after it's been frozen.

Celery and Apple Salad

4-5 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 apple, peeled and diced
1 cucumber, peeled and diced
¼ cup dill, minced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp maple syrup, or to taste
1 TBLS olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
½ tsp lemon zest

Mix dressing ingredients together then toss with veggies and serve.

Celery Leaf Soup

2 cups celery leaves
1 cup onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
4 TBLS olive oil or butter
2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups water or broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk or cream

Sauté onion in oil until soft. Add celery leaves and garlic until wilted. Add potatoes, broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until all is tender. Puree. Add milk and water if it needs to be thinned. Check seasonings.