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Use It Up Challenge: Celery

Use It Up Challenge: Celery

December 30, 2016

Photo: Johnny Autry

Don't let this crunchy veg rot in the crisper—here are our favorite ways to cook with celery beyond a crudité platter. Combine it with bell peppers and onions for an unbeatable mixture often referred to as the "holy trinity." This combination can be part of a hearty base for soups, stews, or casseroles. On its own, braising or grilling celery turns this mineraly, snappy veg into a rich, robust side. So the next time you buy a bunch for a recipe, make sure you put the celery to delicious use before it browns and needs to be tossed.

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Lemony Braised Celery with Hazelnuts

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Lemony Braised Celery with Hazelnuts

Celery is an essential supporting flavor player in many meals as it lends a necessary savoriness and crisp-tender texture to dishes.

Our collection of celery recipes prove that these stalks deserve a turn in the spotlight. This light, refreshing side becomes even crunchier with a finishing touch of hazelnuts.

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Celery Gin Fizz

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Celery Gin Fizz

Celery syrup makes for a delicious drink even without the gin. Just combine the club soda for a refreshing celery sipper.

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New Potatoes with Shaved Celery, Buttermilk, and Dill

Photo: Iain Bagwell

View Recipe: New Potatoes with Shaved Celery, Buttermilk, and Dill

"The dressing for potato salad usually ends up overseasoned and doesn't permeate the potatoes," Christensen says. "Adding vinegar to the cooking process flavors the potatoes, so the dressing should be more mellow."

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Spicy Peanut Butter-Stuffed Celery Sticks

View Recipe: Spicy Peanut Butter-Stuffed Celery Sticks

Cream cheese and peanut butter are slathered on a stalk and topped with red pepper—think ants on a log with a fiery kick.

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Celery-Apple Salad

Photo: Kiyoshi Togashi

View Recipe: Celery-Apple Salad

Simple sometimes means the best and the boldest. This fresh apple and celery salad is certainly the crunchiest.

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Shaved Celery and Parsley Salad

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Shaved Celery and Parsley Salad

Tossed in a sweet lemon dressing, this zesty salad will bring bright, bold flavors to your dinner table in no time.

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Sautéed Scallops with Shaved Celery Salad

Photo: Greg Dupree

View Recipe: Sautéed Scallops with Shaved Celery Salad

Celery is an underrated vegetable, often used as a flavor accent for soups or Thanksgiving stuffing. But it shines as the star in a salad, thanks to its fantastic crunch and naturally salty flavor. For ease and speed, we advise slicing thinly on a mandoline. To cut by hand, line up 3 stalks and slice all at once instead of slicing each stalk individually. The crisp texture of the salad provides a nice contrast to the creamy-meaty scallops. Golden raisins are a surprising and delicious addition, offering a pop of sweetness and chewy texture; you can substitute regular raisins, dried currants, or dried cranberries.

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Celery and Cashew Couscous

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Celery and Cashew Couscous

Soy sauce, brown sugar, celery, and cashews give this couscous a unique, divine flavor.

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Romaine, Celery, and Parmesan Salad

Photo: Iain Bagwell

View Recipe: Romaine, Celery, and Parmesan Salad

This streamlined Caesar salad gets extra crunch from celery. To build a satisfying lunch salad, you need a hearty base, protein, nutritional toppings with color, a salty or sweet crunch, and healthy fat. Our version has all five with chopped romaine, a hard-cooked egg, red onion, celery, Parmesan cheese, and a DIY dressing of mayonnaise, lemon juice, and fresh dill. We left the anchovies out of the dressing to keep it kid friendly. If you love this, try our Kale Caesar Quinoa and Chicken Salad for a punch of whole-grain goodness, fiber, vegetable, and protein in every bite.

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Avocado-Egg Salad Sandwiches with Pickled Celery

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Avocado-Egg Salad Sandwiches with Pickled Celery

Egg salad is a lunch-time favorite, a go-to because it's quick, easy to prepare, and rich in filling protein. A typical homemade version can load on more than 23g of fat and almost 900mg sodium—suddenly making your so-called light lunch feel anything but. Our avocado trick cuts fat in half, keeping all the creamy goodness of classic egg salad.

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Cajun Shrimp Linguine

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Cajun Shrimp Linguine

A jolt of ground red pepper spice things up nicely, while creamy half-and-half smoothes out the edges. Serve with Lemony Broccoli Spears.

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Spicy Shrimp Sliders with Celery Mayonnaise

Photo: Johnny Autry

View Recipe: Spicy Shrimp Sliders with Celery Mayonnaise

These shrimp sliders are perfect for garden parties or outdoor entertaining. If you prefer a milder sandwich, omit the ground red pepper.

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Celery Salty Dog

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Celery Salty Dog

This bittersweet citrus refresher made from fresh red grapefruit juice, celery, and nonalcoholic bitters is the ultimate pick-me-up on a gloomy day.

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Celery and Parsley Salad

Photo: John Autry

View Recipe: Celery and Parsley Salad

Simple and sophisticated, this crunchy, savory, tangy, wonderful combination pairs well with everything from steak to mac and cheese or pizza.

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Celery Soda

Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez

View Recipe: Celery Soda

Trade booze or sugary sodas for refreshing homemade soda. There's no shame in delighting in something bubbly and sweet from time to time, but many sugar-laden sodas and cocktail mixers pack in unnecessary sugar grams and calories. This Celery Soda (one of our three healthy sodas) delivers bold flavors and fizzy refreshment with a fraction of the sugar in store-bought soda and mixers. And you won't even need special equipment. Just mix the syrup with seltzer water.

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Grilled Trout with Roasted Butternut Squash, Pecans,and Celery Leaf Pesto

Photo: Lee Harrelson

View Recipe: Grilled Trout with Roasted Butternut Squash, Pecans, and Celery Leaf Pesto

Say hello to your new favorite seafood dinner! This sweet and nutty autumnal recipe will make everyone at the table swoon.

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Celery, Walnut, and Parmesan Salad

Photo: John Autry

View Recipe: Celery, Walnut, and Parmesan Salad

This salad offers textural treats—crunchy celery, meaty walnuts, and crystalline cheese. Because the salt draws water out of the celery, it's best to serve this simple salad shortly after tossing the ingredients together.

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Celery and Parsley Salad with Golden Raisins

Photo: Jonny Valiant

View Recipe: Celery and Parsley Salad with Golden Raisins

A perfect complement to a heavy entrée; consider putting this on the table with a holiday meal.

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Glowing Green Juice

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Glowing Green Juice

Use an electric juicer to juice celery, pears, apple, cilantro stems, serrano chile, lemon, and lime to make this fresh and fruity juice.

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Cauliflower Salad

Photo: Brian Woodcock

View Recipe: Cauliflower Salad

A fresh, crisp salad that will balance any meal. You can follow a recipe or just compose one with pretty cuts of your favorite vegetables and herbs tossed with a light vinaigrette. Make this salad a day ahead if you want the flavors to absorb into the cauliflower a little more. Just hold off on adding the cheese until right before serving.

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Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole with Peas and Breadcrumbs

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole with Peas and Breadcrumbs

We love the old-school feel of this skillet supper. If you can't find whole-wheat panko, sauté fresh whole-wheat crumbs until crisp.

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Turkey and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Turkey and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

This gumbo is a great use for leftover roasted turkey, though cooked chicken will also work. We skip the long-stirred roux here in favor of filé powder, a thickener made from the sassafras plant; look for it on the spice aisle. For the best results, stir in the filé powder off the heat.

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Buffalo Chicken Sliders

Johnny Miller

View Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Sliders

For this slider, we tuck the usual Buffalo wing accompaniments—carrots and celery—inside the patty. This gives you all the flavors of a wing plate while also helping to keep the lean breast meat moist. When shredding the celery (so that it incorporates nicely), you'll have to stop occasionally to pull and discard the strings. Be sure to search for celery bunches with nice, fresh leaves still attached.

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Creamy Blueberry Chicken Salad

Photo: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Creamy Blueberry Chicken Salad

Red onion and celery add crunch to this quick chicken salad. Blueberries have thick skins, so they won't break apart when tossed with the chicken.

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Rémoulade Deviled Eggs

Photo: Randy Mayor

View Recipe: Rémoulade Deviled Eggs

Give your deviled eggs a Cajun kick with homemade rémoulade. Garnish with celery for color and crunch.

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Farro, Cherry, and Walnut Salad

Photo: Jennifer Causey

View Recipe: Farro, Cherry, and Walnut Salad

Farro is a quick-cooking grain with a mild flavor, perfect for a summer salad. Add juicy cherries, crunchy celery, and a mustardy dressing for the perfect accompaniment to grilled meat, poultry, or fish. If you can't find farro, you can substitute wheat berries, barley, or quinoa.

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Wild Rice and Celery Root Soup

Photo: Ellen Silverman

View Recipe: Wild Rice and Celery Root Soup

The knobby bulb called celeriac or celery root has a celery-like flavor, but one that is more robust and creamy at the same time. Add leftover turkey to make this an entrée.

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Smoked Salmon and Wheat Berry Salad

Photo: Rob Culpepper

View Recipe: Smoked Salmon and Wheat Berry Salad

This salad is all about crunch, with toasted walnuts, crisp apple, and celery. Save your celery leaves for a beautiful and delicious garnish.

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Cold Chicken and Rice Salad

Photo: John Autry

View Recipe: Cold Chicken and Rice Salad

Perfect for a summer supper, this chilled salad features chicken and rice served over a bed of lettuce mixed with cranberries, red bell pepper and celery. Serve with fresh cantaloupe and a crisp white wine.

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Crab and Vegetable Gumbo

Photo: John Autry

View Recipe: Crab and Vegetable Gumbo

The gumbo-blend vegetables contain chopped celery, onion, bell pepper, corn, and okra. If you can't find this particular blend, substitute a mixture of frozen okra and corn.

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Blackened Chicken with Dirty Rice

Photo: Johnny Autry

View Recipe: Blackened Chicken with Dirty Rice

Bring classic New Orleans fare to the table with this dazzling duo. Perfectly seasoned blackened chicken and spicy dirty rice make the perfect pair.

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Use It Up Challenge: Celery

1 of 31

Lemony Braised Celery with Hazelnuts

1 of 31

2 of 31

Celery Gin Fizz

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3 of 31

New Potatoes with Shaved Celery, Buttermilk, and Dill

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Spicy Peanut Butter-Stuffed Celery Sticks

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Celery-Apple Salad

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Shaved Celery and Parsley Salad

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Sautéed Scallops with Shaved Celery Salad

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Celery and Cashew Couscous

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Romaine, Celery, and Parmesan Salad

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Avocado-Egg Salad Sandwiches with Pickled Celery

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Cajun Shrimp Linguine

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Spicy Shrimp Sliders with Celery Mayonnaise

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Celery Salty Dog

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Celery and Parsley Salad

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Celery Soda

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Grilled Trout with Roasted Butternut Squash, Pecans,and Celery Leaf Pesto

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Celery, Walnut, and Parmesan Salad

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Celery and Parsley Salad with Golden Raisins

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Glowing Green Juice

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Cauliflower Salad

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Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole with Peas and Breadcrumbs

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Turkey and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

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Buffalo Chicken Sliders

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Creamy Blueberry Chicken Salad

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Rémoulade Deviled Eggs

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Farro, Cherry, and Walnut Salad

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