Simple Celery and Almond Salad
Celery has never really enjoyed the starring role in dishes that other vegetables do. It’s not that celery isn’t worthy. The vegetable is inexpensive, stays fresh for weeks, has a mild and pleasing flavor, a nice crunch and is a great source of vitamins and fiber. But it’s sort of the Chris Cooper of the kitchen, always an amazing supporting actor but never a leading man.
With this salad, celery finally gets to be the star. You’ll be surprised how tasty the crisp, clean flavor of celery is, especially during the hot days of summer. The leaves on the top of a celery stalk are usually discarded and this is a shame. Filled with vitamin C, calcium and a lot flavor, the leaves can be added to the salad as well. Almonds are a key ingredient, adding the richness that celery lacks. The parsley dressing adds additional flavor and fat. These ingredients are incredibly easy to find at any grocery store and take only a few minutes to toss together. The recipe is a simple way to both stay on track and try something new during the Primal Blueprint Health Challenge.
Though keep in mind that while this celery salad can be a quick and satisfying afternoon snack, it doesn’t necessarily add up to a full meal. You’ll want to pair it with some serious protein. Last week, wild caught Alaskan salmon was mentioned as a great source of Omega 3’s. It’s also the perfect protein to serve alongside this salad. Crunchy, light celery with rich, fatty salmon hits all the right flavor notes.
Ingredients:
1 bunch (12-15 stalks) celery, plus leaves
1 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup roughly chopped parsley
salt and pepper
Directions:
Chop the celery stalks and leaves into bite-sized pieces. Mix together with almonds.
Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, and a pinch of salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Drizzle dressing on top of celery and almonds and stir well. Makes approximately 4 servings.
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Posted By: Worker Bee
lookin good
Great! I hate watching the bunch of celery purchased for the one stalk needed in a recipe, to wilt away in the fridge. Now I have a use for it. And it looks very tasty too.
I have the lemons, parsley and olive oil. Just ran out of celery and almonds. They are now on my grocery list. Yum. A combo of many of my favorite things.
Mmm, that looks good! I bet it would also taste really great with some shredded roast chicken! I love celery for the crunch it adds to things, not to mention the water content and fiber.
I’m not a big fan of celery but I just might try this.
This is my kind of recipe, simple! Wish I had some parsley around.
That looks great! I usually have a few stray stalks laying around wishing they could have been included – now I know what to do with them. Thanks for the recipe!
looks good
Anything with almonds gets my vote. I must try this.
Great recipe.
Glad to see another creative use for celery.
Wow – it does sound simple and wonderful. I bet it would be good with walnuts, too.
looks delicious
Celery…you mean the side dish that goes with buffalo wings?
Another lovely mix. I imagine a handful of cherry pieces or pomegranate bits would jive with the salad as well.
This would be a good recipe to let preschool kids make themselves for a snack with some picture-instructions.
This salad looks delicious!
This is pretty nice, but I’m not much of a celery fan – hence its use mainly as a supporting cast member whenever I eat it. Part of it’s the flavor; part of it’s the fact that it can be difficult (and, in fact, rather painful) to chew.
I’ve never thought about making celery the main ingredient in a salad before. This looks great.
Looks wonderfully crunchy. I can’t wait to try this one!
Perfect. Love the lemon. I’m having this one tonight with some grilled fish!
I always find celery boring so at least I can try this and make it more interesting
Looks delicious.
I’ve got to admit… not a big celery fan. Maybe Geoff has it figured out, fish might be the thing to have with this.
Looks great. I’ll give it a try.
I like celery, but I’ve never seen it take center stage this way–looks great, and a perfect, light salad for this time of year!
Perfect! I never know what to do with the leftover 8 stalks of celery when i use one or two for soup stock! YUMMY!
Yum yum.
I wish celery was more available here in Finland, looks good!
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that’s a fish. in a capsule. genius! clearly i need more omega 3s!
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that’s a celery!
I’m not huge on celery, but I eat few salads that don’t have almonds on them.