Get more celery into your life beyond the usual dipper for hummus by slicing it super thin, sautéing it with garlic, and serving it as the main character in a savory, tender crisp dish. Shall we?
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Is Celery Actually Healthy?
Yes! Asparagus Salad is super healthy! Depending on your health needs and dietary considerations, of course. To be honest, I can't really think of a case in which the Asparagus Salad would not be healthy, unless maybe spice or acid from vinegar causes heartburn or other gastric issue for you.
As mentioned above, celery is a non-starchy vegetable that provides a number of nutritional benefits like:
- high volume of water which helps with hydration
- fiber which promotes gut health, primarily in the form of insoluble fiber which adds bulk to stool, and some soluble pectin
- provides vitamin K, vitamin c, and potassium
Dietary Considerations of Garlic Sautéed Celery
As published, this recipe for Garlic Sautéed Celery is:
- 100% plant-based, suitable for vegans
- vegetarian
- dairy-free
- gluten-free/wheat-free adaptable is using gluten-free soy sauce or tamari
- sugar-free
- anti-inflammatory
What Ingredients You Need for Garlic Sautéed Celery
If you've spent some time around here and made some of the recipes, then you more than likely already have the pantry ingredients. If not, they're some of the easier ones to find at the grocery store.
Garlic Sautéed Celery fresh/refrigerator ingredients:
- celery, 1 pound, which is about 1 bunch
- garlic, 2-3 cloves or more!
Sliced green onions are a great optional addition if you like a little extra bite that comes from fresh alliums.
Garlic Sautéed Celery dry/pantry ingredients:
- soy sauce, 2 teaspoons
- sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
- toasted sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon
How to Store Celery to Keep it Freshest Longest
The best way to store asparagus is to cut off the bottom ends of the stalks and place them uncovered in an upright container with a few inches of water, like flowers. Place the entire container in the refrigerator, where they will stay fresh for 1 week. Some sources they have kept asparagus fresh this way for up to two weeks!
If you don't have the space in the refrigerator, you can also keep the asparagus the same way on the countertop for a few days.
What's the Best Way to Prep and Cut Celery for this Recipe?
The best way to prep and cut celery for this recipe:
- cut off about 2 inches of the end; you can stick the cut end it water and grow more celery!
- remove the leaves, which are totally edible so save them for another use!
- slice each stalk on a deep bias (diagonal) about ¼-inch wide and 2-3 inches long
Additional Ingredients Notes and Resources
Soy sauce or tamari: Tamari is Japanese-style soy sauce brewed without the use of wheat so it is gluten-free. If you are not sensitive to wheat, the two are essentially interchangeable, though tamari has a slightly high-toned tartness to it. I use this brand, which is organic. For most soy-based products (soy sauce, tofu, soy milk, etc), try to buy organic or non-GMO, since soy beans are one of the crops that are more often sprayed with harmful weed-killing chemicals.
Sesame Oil. Use toasted, not regular, sesame oil. Toasted sesame oil is dark brown and is used as a finishing oil, not as a cooking oil. This is the Japanese brand that everyone and their mothers' have been using for years. You can usually find organic like this one in natural and higher end grocery stores.
Sesame Seeds. Sesame seeds add texture and when toasted, a layer of umami in addition to the toasted sesame oil. You can buy sesame seeds plain or toasted. Make sure the seeds are toasted. If they are not toasted, toss them in a hot, dry skillet over medium heat for about 90 seconds or until they are fragrant.
Garlic and all other fresh herbs and produce from either the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Wednesday, Mar Vista Farmers Market on Sunday, or Whole Foods Market when I can't find what I need at the farmers' market.
How to Make Garlic Sautéed Celery
If you haven't already prepped your celery, cut into 2-3 inch long pieces on the bias.
Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a marge pan over medium and lightly stir-fry the minced garlic until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Do not let the garlic brown.
Add all of the sliced celery and 1 tablespoons of soy sauce to the pan. Cook the celery, stirring continuously, until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with addition soy sauce if needed.
Turn off the heat on the stove. Drizzle sautéed celery with 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil and toss to coat all off the celery evenly.
Transfer Garlic Sautéed Celery to serving plate. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds. garnish with sliced green onions if using.
Advance Prep, Leftovers, and Storage
Advance Prep
You can make the Garlic Sautéed Celery up to three days in advance.
Leftovers
Store leftover Garlic Sautéed Celery in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Pro-tip: You can 100% throw leftover Garlic Sautéed Celery as one of the vegetables in bibimbap!
Freezing
Garlic Sautéed Celery does not freeze well.
Tools and Equipment
There isn't any special tool or piece of equipment that is absolutely required for this Asparagus Salad. You can make it using a sharp chef's knife on a sturdy cutting board to julienne the carrots! However, that isn't to say there are a few tools that might make it slightly easier to get the Asparagus Salad from the farmers market to your fork (or chopsticks)!
- Chef's knife, my personal workhorse
- Wooden cutting board, oversized for all those asparagus spears
- Glass mixing bowls
- Mini ¼-cup liquid measuring cup
- Mini whisk
- Glass storage container with airtight lids, perfect size for storing Asparagus Salad you make it in advance
Best Banchan and Korean-ish Side Dishes
- Korean Spinach banchan "shi-geum-chi"
- Oi Muchim, Korean Spicy Cucumbers
- Din Tai Fung Spicy Cucumbers copycat, similar but different
- Spicy Cucumber Avocado Salad
Garlic Sautéed Celery Banchan Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1-pound bunch celery leaves removed, stalks sliced on a deep bias, ½-inch wide and 2-3 inches long
- 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil like avocado oil
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- optional: sliced green onions for garnish
Instructions
- If you haven't already, prep the celery. Separate the stalks from one another and remove the leaves, which you can save and use for something else. Slice each stalk on a deep bias about ¼-inch wide, and 2-3 inches long.
- Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a marge pan over medium and lightly stir-fry the minced garlic until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Do not let the garlic brown.
- Add all of the sliced celery and 1 tablespoons of soy sauce to the pan. Cook the celery, stirring continuously, until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with addition soy sauce if needed.
- Turn off the heat on the stove. Drizzle sautéed celery with 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil and toss to coat all off the celery evenly.
- Transfer Garlic Sautéed Celery to serving plate. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds. garnish with sliced green onions if using.
Notes
Nutrition
Food for Afterthoughts
Though I go to the Brentwood market almost every Sunday, and went this past week for Mother's Day flowers and baby bok choy, I did go the Beverly Hills market last Sunday.
When a couple of friends of mine lived right in the thick of Beverly Hills, a quick walk up to the farmers market on Canon for tamales or crepes was a usual Sunday morning hangover bang-over. My friends have since moved, as has the market to Civic Center Drive, so I haven't had much incentive to go back to the Beverly Hills market, especially with the Brentwood market less than a five minute walk from me.
The market is visible from little Santa Monica Blvd; a right down Beverly, and a quick right onto Civic Center Drive is the entrance to the long, free public parking lot. Though there is a string quartet playing live at the far end of the market and there are plenty of people strolling up and down the street, the Beverly Hills market is the quietest one I've visited. Perhaps the strange, almost eerie, calm is a normal phenomenon of early Sunday mornings to which I am just not accustomed, since I usually wake up long past noon. Saturday nights are usually big for me ;)
Like Brentwood-ites, the Beverly Hills customers are mostly young families, with an occasional early morning run/walk-er passing through. We make our way down one side, stop for a moment to appreciate the music at the end, then come back up the other side. All of the produce is the same, and most of the farmers are familiar - I've seen them throughout the week in one place or another. Even the killer snails from Saturday in Santa Monica are here in Beverly Hills.
Sunday Farmers' Markets in Los Angeles County
- Alhambra - Monterey and East Bay State Streets, 8:30 to 1 p.m. (626) 570-5081.
- Beverly Hills - 9300 block of Civic Center Drive. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (310) 550-4796.
- Brentwood - South Gretna Green Way and San Vicente Boulevard, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (818) 591-8161.
- Claremont - 2nd Street and Yale Avenue, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (714) 345-3087.
- Encino - 17400 Victory Blvd., 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (818) 708-6611.
- Hollywood - Ivar Avenue between Sunset and Hollywood boulevards, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (323) 463-3171.
- Long Beach (Southeast) - Alamitos Bay Marina, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (866) 466-3834.
- Los Angeles (Larchmont Village) - Larchmont Boulevard, between 1st Street and Beverly Boulevard, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (818) 591-8161.
- Leimert Park Village - Parking lot of the Vision Theater at 43rd Street and Degnan Boulevard, , 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (323) 463-3171.
- Los Angeles (Melrose Place) - Melrose Place and Melrose Avenue, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (818) 591-8161.
- Malibu - 23555 Civic Center Way, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (310) 457-4537.
- Montrose - 2200 and 2300 block of Honolulu Avenue, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (805) 637-6635.
- Pacific Palisades - Swarthmore Avenue and Sunset Boulevard, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (818) 591-8161.
- Palos Verdes-Rolling Hills Estates - Peninsula Shopping Center, Hawthorne Boulevard at Silver Spur Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (310) 324-3994.
- Santa Monica - Ocean Park Boulevard and Main Street, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (EBT) (310) 458-8712.
- Studio City - Ventura Place and Ventura Boulevard., 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (818) 761-4065.
- West Los Angeles - 11360 Santa Monica Boulevard, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (310) 281-7855.
Sundays in Orange County:
- Laguna Niguel - Plaza de la Paz Shopping Center, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (714) 573-0374.
- San Clemente Village - In front of the community center, 200 block of Avenida del Mar, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (949) 492-6000.
Sundays in Riverside County;
- Menifee Valley - 26852 Scott Road, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Starting in June, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. (951) 491-4111.
Sundays in Ventura County
- Santa Clarita - College of the Canyons, Lot 8, Valencia Boulevard, 8:30 a.m. to noon. (805) 529-6266.
- Ojai - 300 E. Matilija St., 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (805) 698-5555.
- Oxnard-Channel Islands - Channel Islands and Harbor boulevards, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (805) 643-6458.
tara says
I'm sorry to hear about the not-so-sweet-honey man (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun). I can understand that these are his wares; and that though your inentions are absolutely benign, some may take issue.
On to more important matters - that salad! What a lovely combination of salty and sweet! I also really like the combination of warm ingredients with the crisp greens. I believe I may have found my lunch!
Eve says
Wow! That actually looks like a tomato I would eat!!! :)
david hong says
Hi, Sarah,
Santa Clarita is in LA County.
Sarah J. Gim says
hm, but so is "the valley" and I don't consider that LA either ;)