Growing up, I was not the biggest fan of celery.  One of my least favorite places to find it was chopped up in a salad.  I didn’t even enjoy peanut butter and raisins piled on top.  I guess I was just like the children in the Hidden Valley commercials… because the only way that I wanted to eat celery was smothered in ranch.  Who knew that one of my favorite snacks/side dishes would eventually be a celery salad (in addition to me putting celery in almost every slow cooker dish I make).

I have Cooking Light magazine to thank for this recipe.  I came across it as I was trying to pare down my collection of recipes.  Don’t get hung up on the amounts of ANYTHING.  Chop up as much celery and walnuts as you’d like.  Even the seasoning and dressing is truly to taste.  Use this recipe as a guideline.   Get a good block of parmigiano-reggiano, and use a vegetable peeler (or even a tool to zest fruit) to make fun little curls.  Depending on how much parmesan you use, you may not need any salt.  My suggestion is to add salt last.  This is great for everyday, or simple and pretty for company.  Maybe if I would have known about this recipe years ago, my relationship with celery would have blossomed much sooner…

Note for Paleo enthusiasts (or the lactose intolerant):  Feel free to eliminate the parmigiano-reggiano.  Simply adjust the sea salt content.

Ingredients

• 1-2 bunches of celery sliced (don’t be afraid to use the leaves!)
• 2/3-1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Juice of 1/2-1 lemon
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• Optional: red pepper flakes

Instructions

• 1. Chop celery and walnuts, stir together in large bowl
• 2. Shred Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over walnuts and celery
• 3. Add pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, and stir to coat evenly
• 4. Add salt and/or red pepper flakes to taste
• 5. Enjoy!