Leftover celery salad
Love it, hate it; celery is a backbone of many recipes because of its strong flavour. But if you’ve bought a head of celery for your Bolognese or Jambalaya, what to do with all the leftovers?
If you really hate celery, you can slice and freeze it; this means one head will last you months, saving you money and food waste.
For the celery lovers out there, this salad will make you v happy. A simple blue cheese dressing + green stuff + walnuts (toasted if you can be bothered) will plough through two sticks of celery per person. If you’d like to make a nod to a classic Waldorf salad, chuck in an eating apple, diced. Got some avocado that wants eating up? It would be perfect in this. It’s a nod to American chop salads and, really what got me into eating salads for lunch because I found that I was full and had energy for the afternoon ahead.
Punchy and strong, this is what my 80s childhood iceburg, cucumber and tomato salads weren’t, and I hope you enjoy this.
Leftover celery salad
Ingredients
- 2 stalks leftover celery ideally not too soft yet - if it is, you'll want to cook it up
- 2 handfuls lettuce or salad leaves, washed and dried
- 100 grams or so other stuff- I used cucumber, but chuck in any greens, avocado...
- 50 grams walnut pieces you can use walnut halves but pieces are much cheaper
Blue cheese dressing
- 2 heaped tablespoons mayonnaise
- 50 grams blue cheese
Tools
- Baking tray
- Scales (or you can eyeball, it is a salad)
- Colander & salad spinner/clean tea towel
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
Instructions
- Optional: Turn the oven to 180C and place the walnuts on a baking tray. Place in the warmed oven and toast for about 8 minutes, keeping a close eye on the time. Once toasted, remove from the oven place to one side.
- If preferred/you're pushed for time, don't toast your nuts
- Whisk the blue cheese and mayo together in a bowl. I like to leave some lumps as I like texture in a salad, you may prefer it smooth, up to you
- Cut the celery up and mix with the veg. Mix the dressing into the veg and taste for seasoning, adding salt and black pepper to taste.
- Add the walnuts and eat!