I like to make cream of celery soup and freeze it in jars. I've noticed several different things have been very inexpensive recently, which is an unexpected bonus! I use a chicken or duck stock when I make it.

I've been using a lot of celery, too. I simply add it to lots of things in greater abundance. I make crustless quiches often. (I lightly coat the pan with oil and coat it with grated parmesan. It caramelizes and adds a nice flavor. Faster than a crust.) I like a lot of celery in my quiche. I sautee it lightly with onions and layer it with thin sliced, par-cooked potatoes and maybe some red bell pepper or other veggies I might have in the drawer. I've noticed that the celery I have been getting is quite sweet as well. I've had bitter celery from time to time.

It isn't cheap here. It is usually sold by the pound. I paid $1.29 a pound the other day for a head of celery.

Like parsley, onions, and garlic, celery is something I always have on hand.

Ruthanna, will you share both your celery soup recipes. Please. I haven't made celery soup in years.

Ann

Lately celery is a favorite thing to eat and cook with. I put it in everything: chili, soup, spaghetti sauce, dressing/stuffing, tuna salad, tossed salads, bean salads, stir fry, meatloaf, and egg salad.

Teresa

Celery's not cheap here....but ice berg lettuce is going for under a dollar a head.....and I love it!...been pigging out on wedge salad with blue cheese dressing!

I only buy organic celery, and it isn't cheap. The problem I've had with celery is finding whole bunches of it for sale, rather than those that have been cut down, and called celery hearts. It's the same for Romaine lettuce, which is sometimes hard to find in whole heads rather than hearts. I hate when the produce people think I don't want the celery tops or outer leaves of Romaine. But, that's not what this thread is about. But, to get the whole bunch of celery, complete with the leaves at top, which are great for soup, I have to go to Whole Foods or Central Market, WF ain't cheap.

Sally

I only buy organic celery also and do not remember finding it expensive. Like Ann, it is a staple at my house, along with parsley, onion, and garlic, and especially garlic. I have parsley because it grows like wild in my yard in the winter - I'll have to see if I can keep it alive during the summer.

I also prefer to buy the whole celery complete with leaves at the top, and I find that easier to find at farmers' markets. I make a crab asparagus soup that has as much celery in it as it does asparagus - the celery seems to intensify the asparagus flavor, and that part of the soup is pureed and strained anyway before adding the asparagus tips and crab.

Lettuce is very cheap here at $1 a head for red leaf or Romaine - I never buy iceberg, and I don't think the vegetable/fruit market that I go to sells it - they specialize in Middle Eastern groceries. They have four different kinds of Bulgar wheat, however.

Celery ends up in almost any soup that I make, and it is also a major ingredient in turkey stuffing, where I like for it to maintain its crunch. I try to keep it crunchy in lentil soup as well.

Lars

It's relatively cheap here too, even the organic stuff, I found the organic cdelery at my small local grocer for $1 a stalk last week, it's at regular price this week, $1.49.

Michigan grows a lot of celery and I rarely see it more than $2 a stalk for the organic stuff. There was a pretty good year in 2011, but not a huge amount more than usual, so I don't know why it's cheaper now.

I also always keep it on hand, I like it with hummus instead of chips, but I'd also like ruthanna's recipe, I haven't made cream of celery soup for years either, I just never think of it.

Annie

Dole iceberg here is usually $2 per head in winter, but lately a brand called River Ranch from CA is going for a buck. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! Romaine is still about $3 though, occasionally going up to $4.
I haven't purchased celery lately, but it's usually about $1.60 and more for a package of 'hearts'. It probably depends on what the distributor is charging and if the store can order from a different distributor or not. If a store here can't get something from their distributor, they don't order it. Nash Finch out of MN is the main distributor in this neck of the woods.

Ann, I don't have a real recipe for the potato version but I can approximate it.

CREAMY CELERY SOUP

Melt 1 Tbs. butter. Add 1 bunch of cleaned, destringed and sliced celery and 2 sliced leeks. Sweat them for about 5 minutes. Add 2 peeled and cubed medium-sized potatoes, about 1/4 cup fresh parsley, some fines herbes, tarragon and marjoram, and chicken broth or water + a vegetable bouillon cube to cover. Simmer until vegetables are soft. Puree in batches in blender or with a stick blender until smooth. Add salt and white pepper to taste. You can add milk to thin but we like it without.

CREAMED CELERY SOUP - 3 to 4 servings

1 bunch of celery, cleaned, some leaves reserved for garnish
1 Tbs. butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tbs. fresh parsley sprigs
1 to 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/2 tsp. salt or to taste
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
3 cups milk
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)
Paprika for garnish

[Notes: 1) Add rice to mixture to be pureed if you want a very smooth soup; add rice after pureeing if you want a little more texture to it. 2) Herbs such as tarragon or marjoram can be added with the chicken broth. 3) Grated cheddar cheese can be substituted for the blue cheese or it can be omitted altogether. 4) You can freeze this recipe by following it but not adding the milk or cheese until after you defrost and reheat it.]

If outer stalks of celery have tough strings, pull them out when cleaning. Chop the celery and some of the leaves. In a 3 qt. pot, melt the butter and saute the celery and onion over medium low heat until onion is clear, about 20 minutes. Add 1 cup of chicken stock or more if needed to cover vegetables; add parsley. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until celery is soft.

Puree in batches in blender or blend with stick blender until smooth. Add rice, salt, pepper and milk. Reduce heat to low and heat thoroughly, about 15 minutes. To serve, put about 1 Tbs. of the crumbled cheese (if using) in the bottom of each heated soup bow; fill with soup and garnish with paprika and celery leaves.

some place in that messy box I call a recipe file I have a recipe for a blue cheese celery casserole.....ruthanna's soup reminded me.
Don't remember that it was especially good, but it did use a lot of celery.

I, too, consider celery a staple and am never without it. I like to buy the whole big celery, with the leaves and with lots of inner leaves. Celery is high on the dirty dozen list of produce very high in pesticides so I do buy organic.

Wrapping celery tightly in aluminum foil really does extend it's life significantly.

I like to use celery as an aromatic in the base for soups, stocks and sauces, and the leaves as an herb. And I'm with Lars - it's a must for bread dressing. I like celery cut up with carrots and cucumbers to have with a sandwich at lunch instead of eating chips. Love it stuffed with blue cheese. I use celery in stir-fries, macaroni salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, lobster salad...

I'm looking forward to trying Ruthanna's soup. I have a
celery salad recipe that I copied from the web after watching Giada De Laurentiis make it on her show. It looks really good, but I've not yet tried it.

seagrass

Here is a link that might be useful: Celery, mushroom and pecorino salad

Ruthanna, you reminded me that I forgot to buy celery when I went shopping this afternoon. I knew I needed it, but it never made it onto my list. I've got to make a note right now! I agree, your two soup recipes sound really good. Greeks make a delicious braised lamb or beef stew with celery in avgolemeno sauce. It was a favorite of one of our dear family friends. My mom used to make it every once in a while for my dad too.

Actually, there's times I like to just munch on a plain piece of celery. It's usually when I want something crunchy, and I've just bought a fresh bunch of celery. I know it has that reputation as diet food, but I find that sometimes it makes a very refreshing snack. Crunch, crunch!

Sally

Gosh, I thought everyone considered celery a staple!
I always look for the stalks
with the most leaves on them.

I use it in soups, stews, pot roast, Swiss steak,
dressing (both corn bread dressing and 'regular bread')
green salads, pea salad, macaroni salad, chicken salad,
hot chicken salad, tuna salad, salmon salad.
Probably lots more things I'm not thinking of right now.

It is wonderfully refreshing as a snack,
as Sally mentioned.
Either plain, or filled with Pimento cheese,
Peanut butter, hazelnut or almond butter,
Or cream cheese.
Try some crushed pineapple
mixed into the cream cheese filling sometime!

It is good sauteed along with a little onion,
in either wild rice, brown rice, or plain ol' white rice.

If we ever get any cold weather down here,
I'm wanting to try some of the really yummy sounding
soup recipes posted here.

We also like it kind of 'braised',
as a side dish.

Braised Celery

Celery cut into about 3" lengths
A little butter
A little chicken broth.
Parsley
White pepper to taste.

Melt butter in skillet.
Lay pieces of celery in it and cook until it starts to soften.
Add chicken broth (just enough to cover)& parsley.
Cover & cook until celery is tender.
Season to taste.

Simple, quick, & good!

Because of diet restrictions,
I don't salt this,
But you can, to taste.

Rusty

Anyone have problems with celery stalks? They are alway stringy and fiborous.

I peel mine.

dcarch

I wish I could buy one or two stalks of celery instead of a whole head. I cook for one or two, so I end up throwing away a lot of wobbly old celery. Sometimes I refresh it by putting it in water.

Pam, keep it wrapped in a damp towel & it will stay fresh.

/tricia

Pam, as Seagrass mentioned, wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and it will keep for a good while. I used to have the same problem you mentioned.

Thanks Ruthanna, I have a pot of turkey broth on simmering and some of it will be used to make a pot of your Celery soup this week.

Ann

Thanks. I didn't know that. I'll try the foil wrap method.

DC, I find it's usually just the large outside ribs
That are "stringy".
I don't exactly 'peel' them,
But it's pretty easy to pull the 'strings' out.
Just start at the root end of the rib,
Grab a few ends of the strings with a knife blade,
And pull towards the top of the rib.
The 'strings' will pull away from the rib.

That may not be real clear,
But I just don't know how else to describe doing it.

Dedtired, I am just cooking for one or two now, too
Most of the time, anyhow.
But I very rarely have to throw any celery away.
When I have a bunch on hand,
I use it in a lot of things.
And it keeps very well.
Plus I really enjoy it as a snack.

Rusty

Thanks again Ruthanna. I made your Cream of Celery Soup today. I cheated and used shallots instead of leeks because that is what I had on hand. Tarragon as suggested and I used turkey broth instead of chicken. Served with homemade croutons dusted with Parmesan.

We live on the mesa above the Santa Maria Valley.
We were in town today and saw fields and fields and fields of good looking celery.
Maybe the price is low because we have had a very mild winter here and the crops are producing well.
I use a vegetable peeler on the outer stalks to get rid of the tough "strings."

If anyone is looking for another celery use, I stumbled across this recipe last night and made it to have for lunch today. It is quite good!

Chinese Celery Salad

Try serving this simple Asian-inspired salad with cold sesame noodles or stir-fried chicken with peanuts. From the book "Mad Hungry," by Lucinda Scala Quinn (Artisan Books).

Mad Hungry, October 2010

http://www.marthastewart.com/349639/chinese-celery-salad
0Rated(0)

Yield
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
1 bunch of celery, top and bottom removed, stalks separated and cut in half lengthwise
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or white vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 dashes Chinese chili oil or hot sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions
1.Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the celery and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove, rinse, and cool. Peel off the fibrous strings. Cut the celery into bite-sized pieces.
2.In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, chili oil, if using, sugar, and cilantro, if using. Toss in the celery. Cover and refrigerate to cool before serving.

Thanks to everyone for all the good celery ideas. My apologies for not noting on the cream of celery soup recipes that you can add heavy cream or half and half. Those ingredients are not often used at our house anymore so I didn't think of including them if you want a richer taste.

After e-mailing some California celery distributors, I got an answer to the price drop. The week before Super Bowl is the second largest week for celery sales in the U.S. (first is Thanksgiving). Extra crop production is targeted for those two time periods. As Carol said, milder growing conditions caused the celery to be ready for harvest a few weeks early and they had to dump large quantities that would have sold this week. Prices today were $1.79 a bunch.

I just got a bunch of celery for 65 cents......I go to a little discount grocery story nearby and they always have fresh, locally grown vegetables.
I love celery and am happy to see all the great recipes.

Super Bowl! and you can't have Buffalo wings without celery!
And I also noticed the price rise, with celery and iceberg lettuce.