Recipe: Chopped veggies, peanuts provide plenty of crunch
Celery combined with scallions, peanuts and cilantro makes a crunchy salad with just a pop of red pepper Kathy Morrison
Celery typically is a supporting cast member in the production of meals, adding flavor to stews and soups, in particular, or filling out a plate of crudités. How fun then to discover a winter salad recipe that uses most of a head of celery.
This recipe came tucked in a recent farm box delivery, but it originated with Bon Appétit magazine. It has just a few ingredients and goes together quickly, making it ideal for a weeknight dinner, served alongside rotisserie chicken or broiled fish, or as a no-wilt option at a potluck.
Use the liquid aminos (as opposed to the fish sauce) in the dressing and it's vegan, too.
I don't mind doing some knife work, so I sliced and chopped everything by hand, but a mandoline or a food processor with slicing blade could make even quicker work of the prep required.
Look for the freshest, firmest celery you can find (check the leaves for wilting, especially). Also, snag two bunches of cilantro, which I like to wash in a salad spinner. The resulting salad is greater than the sum of its parts, with a fantastic crunch to boot.
Thai celery salad with peanuts
Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish
Ingredients:
For dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons liquid aminos or fish sauce
Salt, to taste
For salad:
6 celery stalks, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal (about 1/8-inch thick)
3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 red chile pepper, such as Fresno variety, halved, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems (about 1-1/2 bunches)
1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts, plus more for garnish
Instructions:
In a bowl or glass measuring cup, whisk together the oil, lime juice and liquid aminos or fish sauce. Taste, and add salt to personal satisfaction.
Combine the sliced celery, scallions, pepper slices, chopped cilantro and chopped peanuts in a bowl. Re-whisk the dressing and pour it over the vegetables. Allow to meld for at least 10 minutes, then stir again and serve, garnished with more chopped peanuts.
Salad, without garnish, can be covered and refrigerated until ready to serve later the same day. Stir again before serving.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of April 27
Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.
* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash. Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
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