Keeping Celery Crisp / Celery Stir-Fry Recipe
A whole head of celery will keep fresh for
up to a week when placed in a vegetable crisper, or in a long-life green
storage bag, in the refrigerator. However, it may need to be cut in half
to fit in the crisper drawer. You can break off individual stalks for use
and the remainder will keep well, especially if it is still attached to
its root base.
To prepare celery, cut the strings from
coarser outer stalks, trim the stalks and wash all the celery carefully to
remove trapped earth. The celery stalks can then be sliced, diced, chopped
or cut into strips to be cooked in soups and stews, braised or steamed as
a vegetable, or used in stir-fries.
Another easier way to remove all the strings from celery sticks is
to pull the strings from the long stalks before cutting them up into
sticks. Better still, buy string-less celery, which is easy to prepare,
particularly when using a large quantity of stalks as in the stir-fried
recipe below.
Celery Stir-Fry Recipe
Ingredients: (Serves: 4)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped green ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
300 g celery, sliced diagonally 5 mm thick
175 g bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into
3 cm lengths
75 g snow peas, trimmed
4 spring onions, sliced diagonally into 3 cm
lengths
1 tablespoon salt-reduced soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
Method:
Place the sesame seeds in a small frying pan
and dry-fry over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, or
until golden. Do not let them get brown. Transfer the seeds to a small
bowl. Or toast the sesame seeds on a baking tray under a medium-hot grill
until they are golden.
Heat the peanut oil in a wok over a medium
heat, or in an electric wok heated to 150°C, and stir-fry the ginger for
30 seconds. Add the garlic and celery and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add the
asparagus and stir-fry for a further 3 minutes.
Add the snow peas and spring onions and
stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce, lime juice, sweet chili
sauce and sesame seeds; toss until the vegetables are evenly coated. Serve
immediately with boiled rice.
Happy Cooking,
Carol |
