We rang in 2013 quietly. We spent the late afternoon in a hardware store wondering why dimmer switches were so dang expensive. We bought one anyway along with a new dining room light. Then we headed off to the Burnaby Village Museum because I had never been and we’re fans of those old school pioneer-type museums with blacksmith and letterpress demonstrations. Plus it was free. We gazed at all the Christmas lights, watched the vintage carousel and I got envious of all the vintage kitchens cupboards, hutches and enamelware in the old farmsteads. Afterwards, we rang in the new year watching The Dust Bowl, snacking on cheese, clementines and homemade chex mix. We didn’t even bother with champagne. We stood out on our balcony, listened to the guy banging his pots and pans and kissed. I guess this means we’re officially old.
2012 was an interesting year. We bought our first car. We bought our first home. We took a long and winding road trip where we at pancakes in Denver, visited my family in Ontario and camped in Yellowstone National Park. We had our first car accident when a car slammed into us in line at the border to cross back into Canada. We spent a lot (a lot!) of time working which ate away at our time but produced some pretty exciting projects and prospects. It was a stressful year but a pretty good one too. I’m welcoming in 2013 with promises to be a better friend and to make time to work on personal projects. We’re talking about trips to Mexico City or Havana, Cuba. I’m excited for the possibilities and I’m ready for opportunities and adventure.
So how does this salad play into things? Well, I’m not sure exactly and I probably can’t justify a good segway except to say that this salad surprised me. Celery gets looked upon as a bit ho-hum. Not by me, though. I like it lightly sautéed with lots of garlic and red chili peppers and served over pasta with lots of Parmesan. It’s what got me through many a lean year back when I worked at a record store and scraped by on minimum wage while paying rent, paying off student loans and trying to eat 3 solid meals a day. But after hearing about celery salads from around the blogosphere, I decided to try my hand with my own version. And even for this celery lover, it surprised me by how refreshing and tangy it was. It’s got crunch obviously and the toasted almonds add a good nutty texture. The vinaigrette is tangy with both lemon juice and red wine vinegar and the Parmesan cheese lends some salty richness to the whole thing. I loved it and I brought it to a potluck this past weekend and it went over very well.
So get out of your celery ghetto and try something new & surprising!
tangy parmesan celery salad
8 stalks celery, sliced thin on the diagonal (if you have leaves, chop them up too)
2 T olive oil
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T red wine vinegar
1 t dijon mustard
1/2 t honey
kosher salt & freshly ground pepper
1 green onion, sliced thinly
2 T grated Parmesan
1/4 c sliced almonds, toastedAdd the sliced celery & leaves to a medium sized serving bowl. Combine the oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and honey along with a pinch of salt & a good grind of pepper into a small jar. Put lid on jar and shake vigorously until thick, taste & adjust seasoning if necessary. Pour over celery and toss well. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan, green onions and almonds. Makes 4 servings.
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This looks amazing. I love crunchy salads! And I waste too much celery. Making it!
Sounds like my kind of ringing in the New Year – who needs crowds when you have homemade chex mix? Someone introduced me to celery salads years ago and they really are delicious – so crisp and refreshing!
I love celery in all kinds of salads but never had one where it was the star, so definitely doing this one.
Happy New Year!
Happy new year! Hope 2013 is a good one.
Happy New Year! And, by the way, you’re not old until the time comes when you can’t stay awake ’till midnight 🙂
Celery sure doesn’t get enough credit. I love the thought of this salad with all of it’s crunch! Happy new year!
I love celery, but have never had it in it’s own salad!
Will give it a try…
Hooray for celery! I must say that even though I like celery, I have never thought to make it the main vegetable in a salad. (Possibly because half heads of celery tend to die a long slow curling death in my crisper…) The combination with parmesan sounds really good! 🙂
Thanks Maria, no more wasting celery!
Jess, yes, indeed. A loved one & chex mix by your side. Perfection!
Catherine, I hope you do give it a try. It’s delicious.
Thanks Laurel, right backatchya!
Donna, we are night owls so usually we can make it to at least midnight 🙂
Agreed, Amanda. Happy new year to you!
RMW, yes, let’s make celery a star!
Eileen, don’t let celery die! Make salad instead.
Celery and me are like you and eggplant/tomatoes/zucchini 😉 I can’t make myself eat it, not raw and not cooked. Funny thing is that I do enjoy celeriac, which is kind of like celery but with a more mellow flavour. My organics delivery service brought me celery last week and I’ve been avoiding it. Your dressing sounds amazing however so I’m not saying no to this celery salad just yet.
We stayed home on NYE as well. My husband went to bed at 10:30pm and I stayed up until 1am watching a movie on Netflix. Yep, we’re middle-aged. There’s no denying that LOL!
Salads like this are a blessing. I also enjoy celery and often times it is my lunch with cheddar cheese sticks cradled inside. One of my goals for the new year ahead is something raw at each meal, this will help nicely, thanks.
January is definitely salad time, so I’ll look forward to trying this one. Happy new year!
I just did this recipe tonight and it is delicious ! I add a litle bit more almonds because it’s such a good pairing !! Thank you for sharing !
This solves all my problems (big bag of celery in the crisper) and I love the idea of this salad. I always think of celery as a sort of mix-in, never the star. Thanks for changing my perspective!
Joanne, well, if you’re not a celery fan, throw the celery you have in soup or something more digestible! I don’t want you hating this veg if you aren’t already a fan 🙂 You know what, I’m totally okay with getting old (well, not the wrinkles).
Thanks, RC! Hooray for salads.
Nadine, so glad you enjoyed this! Yes always to more almonds 🙂
Yes, this salad makes celery the star and it’s well-deserved. Enjoy!
Wow, this looks fantastic! I’m also a huge fan of celery– I love it’s crunch and I love how refreshing it is. I can’t wait to give this salad a try!
Thanks Sara, it’s crunchy and refreshing, definitely 🙂