How much is a Chopped or Sliced Celery Stalk?

The humble celery is an often overlooked vegetable. As an herbaceous plant of the parsley family, celery brings a plethora of options to the dining table.

Around the world, celery is celebrated as an important flavoring when cooked in soups or stocks. This versatile vegetable is also a staple in appetizer trays and pairs well with many sour cream based dips.

Celery is definitely a vegetable and one can argue that celery is one of the most popular vegetables in the world.

Interestingly, even though celery is a vegetable, you will often find cut celery stalks in fruit and vegetable trays, right next to cut apples and grapes.

There are 3 main types of celery.

The traditional long-stalked celery that you find in the market is called Pascal celery or more commonly called green stalk celery. These are enjoyed either raw or cooked.

Another type is a self-blanching or yellow leaf celery that grows into a thinner stalk. The leaf celery is grown for its aromatic leaves and seeds which are used in cooking.

Celeriac grows into a large ball shaped root instead of thin stalks. Needs to be peeled before eating it either raw or cooked.

Celery is a unique vegetable that mostly grows in long light green stalks. Little green leaves will grow off the top of the stalks. Celery can grow as high as 23-31 inches tall.

The celeriac variety grows into a large bulb instead of stalks.

The most distinguishing feature of celery is that they are crunchy. Each stalk can be pulled off and it will reveal a hollow interior with a similar shape you would expect to find in a canoe.

Celery is one of those vegetables where people are in the "love it vs. hate it" camp. For those who love the taste of celery, they delight in the strong aromatic smell that immediately overtakes the taste. It's for this same reason why some people may not be that fond of celery.

Another fantastic reason to eat celery is that the whole thing is edible, roots, stalks and leaves! If you're only using the stalks to cook in a soup or to serve on an appetizer tray, be sure to save the leaves and roots in the freezer because they are an excellent addition to making stock.

Celery is a low-calorie vegetable and is often juiced for its health benefits because it is low in sugar and packed with potassium and vitamins. Celery is often touted as a "superfood" due to its claimed benefits.

Celery is used raw in juices, salads, and appetizers. When cooked, celery adds great flavor enhancements to soups, stocks, stews and often is used as a seasoning all by itself.

If you are looking for a substitute in place of celery, it’s best to look for a vegetable that can replace the identifiable crunch and flavor of celery.

For crunch, replace celery with green onions or scallions, cucumbers (with seeds removed), diced carrots, green apples, or sweet peppers.

For flavor, replace celery with cooked cabbage, cooked fennel, cooked leeks, or cooked carrots.

Yes! Feel free to feed celery to your dog as it is considered safe to eat. The common sense recommendation is to be sure to feed in moderation as well as cut the celery up in smaller size so it does not prove a choking hazard.

Celery is good for cats, too! Be sure to cut the celery up in a smaller size so it does not prove a choking hazard. Your cat may enjoy the celery leaves and their size may be easier to consume. Too much celery may cause diarrhea so moderation is key!

Best of all, celery might fresh up your pet’s breath!

Celery is known to cause excess gas for those who have sensitive stomachs or a highly toxic digestive tract.

Celery juice is high in FODMAPs, which can cause stomach upset in those who have difficulty digesting certain carbohydrates and sugars.

Since celery has high water content, the challenge is to store it in a way to protect it from water evaporation.

Celery will go limp if you do not refrigerate it as soon as possible. Since no one wants to munch on limp celery, remove it from the plastic grocery store bag and store in the refrigerator if you are not planning on consuming it right away.

It is important to make sure that fresh cut celery is properly stored. To do this, the recommended way is to immediately store it in the refrigerator. Many folks wrap the cut celery in damp paper towels to help keep it moist. The focus should be making sure that the high water content of the celery is protected.

If you are cutting fresh celery for immediate consumption, it is best to not let it sit out at room temperature for more than two hours.

The first thing to do when storing celery in the refrigerator is to remove it from the plastic bag it came in from the grocery's produce aisle.

Many people will cut off the root end of celery and trim the stalks to the length of a tall mason jar. They will place the celery in the jar, fill it up with water, and cap it.

This makes it super easy to see what is being stored and therefore it's a constant reminder to eat this healthy vegetable every time you open the refrigerator!

To store celery "sticks" or other cut shapes in the refrigerator, put them in an airtight container with water to keep them crisp until used.

Many people will wrap celery in a dry towel and wrap it tightly with either aluminum foil or a plastic bag. It is best to store in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator.

Absolutely! In fact, freeze any uncooked celery if you are not able to eat it within a few weeks of storing it in the refrigerator.

You can freeze celery in stalks in a freezer bag if you are planning to use it in a soup, stew, or a stock.

If you prefer frozen celery to not stick together, you will want to spread celery on a baking sheet and freeze uncovered for a few hours until hard. Once that is accomplished, remove the baking sheet and place frozen celery in a freezer bag and place in the freezer for future use.

Some people will blanch celery prior to freezing in order to retain a stronger flavor for the future use.

Celery is super easy to cut! The simplest way is to remove the leaves from the head of the celery and then break off each stalk until you have a pile of individual stalks of celery.

From there, you can cut celery into any size you want.

It is recommended that you always wash celery, even if it is labeled organic. Celery does not have a protective skin and will often have residue from the field (and pesticides!) on it.

Thankfully, celery is easy to wash and only takes a few minutes. Run the celery under cool water and give the stalk a good rub with your fingers, inside and out. Vegetable washes work great, too!

Yes, we can eat the skin of celery! Some varieties of celery are very “stringy” and can be off-putting. To remove the stringy outside, you can either try removing it with a paring knife or a vegetable peeler. Lightly peel so that you won’t accidently cut through the celery stalk.

Celery can be sliced lengthwise into long strips or horizontally into half moon shapes.

For interest, some people will chop celery at an angle to produce larger bite-sized pieces, excellent for dipping into dips such as hummus or a sour cream based dip.

It’s super easy to chop celery, although due to its shape, cubing may provide a challenge.

To chop celery, remove the leaves and trip the base and top of the stalk. Line up all the celery stalks and cut into bite-sized pieces.

Once you have diced celery, you're halfway there to dicing and mincing celery. All it takes is a few more minutes of chopping the celery pieces into smaller pieces of your desired size.

It is not recommended to zest celery as it does not have a thick outer skin.

While it would be a challenge to mash celery, it can be pureed.

To do so, you will need to remove the outer skin by peeling and cooking the celery in liquid until it is soft and tender. From there, add to a food processor and pulse until pureed.

It is possible to grate and shred celery and using a food processor with a grate attachment is the easiest way.

The best way to juice celery is to use a juicer or a high powered blender and puree until a juice forms. You will need to pour the juice through a fine mesh sieve or a nut milk bag to strain out the stringy pulp.

No, celery does not have seeds. There is a culinary celery seed, however they do not actually come from the same celery plant that we eat.

Absolutely! In fact, they are incredibly tasty and can be added to salads, soups, and all sorts of hot dishes.