Susan Mary Aldridge

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Celebrate February with celery!

1st February 2020 by SusanA

February marks the end of the British celery season (although imported celery is, of course, available year round), so grab some while you can. Celery is 95% water – and the rest of it is rich in vitamin C, minerals, soluble fibre and anti-inflammatory antioxidant phytochemicals. It’s valued in traditional Chinese medicine for treating high blood pressure. Of course, celery is an ideal healthy snack – portable, crunchy and with a handy groove that you can fill with peanut butter, cream cheese or a dip. Here are a few more ideas for adding more of this low-calorie (10 calories a stick) nutrient-dense vegetable to your 5-a-day (or more!) fruit and veg a day intake. 

Classic celery juice

Celery has an alkalising effect so, so look no further for a lovely green juice recipe if you’re interested in this potential health benefit. By the way, I’ve started to add turmeric root alongside ginger root to all my vegetable juices. 

Serves one 

One cucumber, roughly chopped

Several sticks of celery, chopped

Big bunch spinach

One inch of turmeric root, peeled and chopped

One inch of ginger root, peeled and chopped

Juice all ingredients and drink immediately.

Celery and lentil soup 

This main meal soup is a great winter warmer. I got the idea from a talk by Professor Mike Lean of the University of Glasgow about a ‘traditional Scottish’ low-calorie diet consisting of porridge and lentil soup (which he hopes will put type 2 diabetes into remission). You can keep it simple with just celery and lentils, or add any other vegetables you happen to have hanging around (I found a parsnip at the back of the fridge)

Serves four

250g red lentils

One head celery, chopped

One tbsp. dried mixed herbs

One tsp. chilli flakes

One litre of vegetable stock (you can use more, or less, depending on how thick you would like your soup to be)

Tomato puree

Cook the celery with the herbs till soft, then add the lentils and stock. Cook until the lentils are soft, then liquidise and add tomato puree to taste. 

Crunchy salad 

The point of this salad is to combine celery with some other crunchy ingredients. I was going to add peanuts for even more crunch, but decided to use them in the dressing to give an Oriental kick.

Serves four

Celery sticks, finely chopped

One red pepper, finely chopped

Two carrots, grated

Small white cabbage, grated

One cup of pomegranate seeds

One pineapple, sliced and diced

Dressing

One tbsp. peanut butter

Flaxseed oil

Soy sauce

Whizz the peanut butter, oil and soy sauce in a food processer to make the dressing. Mix the other ingredients and toss with the dressing. 

Next month: Spring forward with greens, turnips and leeks 

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