INCREASE YOUR CELERY.

Six things to do with celery, including this great winter salad.

Celery is so good at the moment, so crisp and crunchy and strong.

It’s the foundation of every great soup, stew and Bolognese sauce. I would argue it’s as important as the onions.

But it’s also the best snack you can have when you want a snack.

I am currently in the habit of munching through a couple of icy-cold celery stalks towards the end of the day, when my stomach tells my brain it needs something, and my brain gets all whiny when I ignore it. Celery keeps my mouth busy and my brain distracted, so that I can keep working.

Plus, if I’m busy munching celery, I’m not munching corn chips, which is probably a good thing.

Another plus: it’s high in fibre, and without going into any further detail, it does what fibre is meant to do for the body, and does it very efficiently.

There’s more joy (and value) to be had in buying whole celery than in buying a small, over-priced plastic packet of two or three stalks, but you don’t want to end up with a crisper full of limp green things, either.

I have six solutions to this age-old problem:

One, don’t ever follow the ‘one or two stalks’ called for in a recipe. Use three or four.

Two, eat it. Fill the little troughs with peanut butter or hummus and give it to the kids. Serve the stalks as dippers for dips.

Three, juice it (in a proper blender, so you keep the fibre).

Four, make lots of bloody mary cocktails and use celery as edible swizzle sticks.

Five, store it properly. It will go limp as it loses moisture, so buy it whole, trim it into stalks, wash them and the best of the leaves, and store in a plastic container (lunch-box style), in the crisper. Celery for days.

Six, make this salad, in which celery mingles with apple and pear, avocado, green herbs, pink grapefruit and toasted walnuts, so that every mouthful is punchy and crunchy.

CELERY, APPLE AND PEAR SALAD

• 4 celery stalks, with leaves

• 1 crisp green apple

• 1 green-skinned pear

• Half avocado

• Pink grapefruit, cut into segments (see below for method)

• 1 tbsp dill and parsley sprigs

• 2 tbsp walnut kernels, toasted

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• Sea salt and pepper

In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, sea salt and pepper together.

Trim the celery stalks, saving the smaller leaves for the salad, and finely chop.

Cut the apple into quarters, core and finely slice.

Cut the pear in half, core, and finely slice crosswise.

Toss celery, apple and pear in the dressing and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

Slice the avocado and segment the pink grapefruit.

Add avo and grapefruit to the bowl with the parsley, dill and roughly chopped celery leaves, and gently toss until well-coated.

Taste, adjust, serve.

Tip: When I say ‘taste, adjust, serve’, here’s what I really mean. Is the dressing sharp enough to be punchy, does it need more apple cider vinegar? Is it generous enough, or would it benefit from a spoonful or two of the pink grapefruit juices? Is it salty enough, or would you like to grate some feta or parmesan over the top as well? Do you like the mix of textures, or do you want to add more more pear for sweetness, or avocado for creaminess? Also, does it look gorgeous? Sometimes it’s better to hold back on one or two of the ingredients – eg apple slices, or walnuts – and group them on top as a garnish, rather than everything being a free-for-all.

To segment grapefruit (or any citrus): Trim off each end, which will reveal just how thick the skin is. With a small sharp knife, cut down the sides, removing both skin and white pith, following the natural shape. Holding the fruit in the palm of your hand above a bowl to collect the juices, cut in between each membrane creating a v-shape, then allow each individual segment to fall into the bowl. Squeeze the juice out of what’s left and use it in dressings – even this one. Please don’t use a long knife, as it is too easy to cut the hand holding the fruit, and you might end up with very pink grapefruit.

To peel or not to peel: If large, the strings can be quite tough, so yes, peel off the outer ribs, using the blade of a knife or a vegetable peeler. Otherwise, there is probably little need, especially if you’re chopping it for a salad. The real test is to start chopping and see if the strings start becoming a nuisance, and act accordingly.

Thanks for dropping by! And big thanks to my mate (and serial Archibald finalist) Zoe Young for gifting me her palette papers; they make the most beautiful backgrounds, as you can see. I think of them as part of an artist’s mise en place, the things they need to hand in order to create something wonderful. 

Special thanks to Terry for the celery increase gag.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. I fully support the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to be enshrined in Australia’s Constitution. It’s only fair, folks.