Let's Talk Celery!

Was anyone else pleasantly surprised to receive celery this week?  I mentioned receiving celery from the CSA to a friend who remarked "I never knew celery could be grown around here."  I must admit I thought the same thing. 

Typical California Celery

Clarion River Organics Celery

I'm not sure why, but all I have ever seen in the grocery store is celery from California.  As Katie Schwarz mentioned in the weekly newsletter, that celery tends to be lighter and larger and I might add typically with only a little fringe of leaves at the top.  This celery is darker, thinner with an abundance of dark green leaves.  I do not find it a bit rubbery as Katie mentioned it might be.  Instead, mine is crisp with a milder (less bitter?) yet stronger... well, cerery-ish flavor than the store bought.  The leaves have the same celery flavor, but more bitter, almost hot, and could be successfully used as a garnish.  I have to agree with Zeb's assessment as reported in the newsletter - the best tasting celery I've ever had - so much so that I am reluctant to chop it up in recipes (though I did use one stalk in Summer Bean Salad) and instead we are eating it raw, cut into sticks, as a snack.  Try filling the rib with a little sun butter - delicious!   

Researching celery a bit, I learned that indeed it can be grown in the northeast if the soil (fertile), temperature (cool), and moisture (constant) are right.  The Old Farmer's Almanac website does say it is a bit tricky to grow so I think we should count ourselves fortunate to have received it.  

Celery, also to the surprise of many, packs a nutritional punch.  It is high in antioxidants, particularly phytonutrients, and vitamin K.  In fact, there are at least a dozen antioxidants in celery.  The website, World's Healthiest Foods (WHFoods.com), says of celery's phytonutrients that they "have been shown to decrease risk of oxidative damage to body fats and risk of oxidative damage to blood vessel walls. In addition, these celery extracts have been shown to prevent inflammatory reactions in the digestive tract and blood vessels". The Old Farmer's Almanac website recommends using celery within two weeks, but for maximum nutritional value WHFoods recommends use within one week.

I plan to make vegetable stock so that all those lovely celery leaves will not be wasted.  Here is the recipe I will try: Vegetable Stock from Simply Recipes.  This recipe calls for 2 cups of chopped celery.  I will use all celery leaves instead.  It also uses fennel bulb so if you received one from CRO this week, and still have it, you can use it here.