The Unintentional Vegetable

Celery is the unsung hero of modern day cooking and mealtimes. ... It is the stalwart vegetable in the kitchen pantry, the one vegetable we rarely think about, intentionally. ... Celery occupies an exalted position in everyone’s mind as the go to ‘diet’ food. ...  (So does its cousin, carrot). ... It fills an important spot in many side and main dishes. ...  It has a rugged taste like no other and is most often included with many other vegetables, raw or cooked, and is missed, when forgotten, in many dishes.  It is the vegetable we take for granted.

Celery has no equal.... It holds its shape in mealtime dishes and provides that much needed ‘ lift’  to any stir-fry, salad or rice accompaniment. ... Its crunchy texture creates interest in most salads while adding flavour to a any soup or stew. ... A little goes a long way. ....  It is an inexpensive addition to any buffet, a part of the salad team. ... Like lettuce, it can deflect attention  away from a meal that is short on volume and substance, yet provide that much needed boost in flavour when required. ... This plain vegetable, aligned in the produce aisle alongside the grand array of lettuces, fresh herbs, romaine and green onions, is easily ignored for the many roles it plays in our dietary lives. ... It is not necessarily the go to vegetable for many of us when we go grocery shopping.  It is the unintentional vegetable.   Recipes abound for many vegetables - but not for celery.  Should there be one?

I was making soup, the other day, a mainstay in our family’s diet, especially during the winter months.  Having made an earlier version of this soup that morning, I was dismayed to learn that there was no more celery available to make more soup.  ... (Usually, I make more than enough in an over sized pot but not that day) ...  Upon tasting the second batch of soup, I was surprised to discover the change in its flavour. .... Something was missing.... Everything included in the original recipe was present in this new batch of soup, except the celery.... What a difference!. ...  Then I started thinking.  Could the celery have actually made such an impact on flavour? ...  I believe it did. ...

Celery is included in many cold dishes from potato salad, vegetable salads to chicken, tuna, turkey and egg salad fillings, in many tomato based dips, and stuffing, the hot side dish to poultry.  Sometimes, celery can be simply an accessory on a vegetable platter next to the fancy sandwiches. Then, with a few strategic cuts, celery can become a fan, curl or stick providing yet another decorative accessory  to our meal time ritual. ... Celery is rarely the side dish on a restaurant menu. Yet, at home, it is usually the vegetable we smother  with  peanut butter or cream cheese for an instant pick me up. ...  It is the vegetable paired with wings in so many restaurants. ...  Celery is never the main attraction, like sweet potato fries but is sometimes present in a supporting role for the ‘real food’ that will soon arrive to be devoured with great anticipation.

Celery has many qualities that have, unwittingly, been under appreciated. .... It wasn’t until last week while making soup twice that I realized how misunderstood this incredible vegetable had become in my culinary life. ... Never again!