With heavy holiday dinners and all the trimmings, it's nice to have an extra-light salad to accompany the meal.
This pretty little salad takes about five minutes to prepare and has just three ingredients - celery, crumbled bleu cheese and your favorite vinaigrette dressing.
A friend made it for us when we last visited her house and I was surprised I hadn't thought of it myself, especially since I love celery.
It's crunchy and flavorful and probably is close to a negative in the calorie department, depending on how much dressing and cheese you add, and besides, it's available any time of the year.
According to most sources, the work of digesting celery burns more calories than the food provides. Remember, this is, of course, without the added calories from dressing and bleu cheese!
Celery is an excellent source of vitamin C. And according to the Web site www.whfoods.com, it's also a very good source of dietary fiber, potassium, folate, molybdenum, manganese and vitamin B6. Celery is also a good source of calcium, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, magnesium, vitamin A, phosphorous and iron.
Next time you're in a quandary over what to serve for salad, give this recipe a try.
Celery bleu cheese salad with vinaigrette dressing
1 bunch of celery, cut into tiny pieces
½ cup crumbled bleu cheese
1/3 cup of your favorite vinaigrette dressing
Directions
Remove leaves and ends from celery stalks. The strings on the celery doesn't bother me at all, but if you don't like them, then take a few extra minutes to remove them with a paring knife. Split each stalk in half or thirds length-wise and cut into ¼-inch size pieces. Place in a salad bowl and sprinkle crumbled bleu cheese over celery. Dress with your favorite Italian or vinaigrette dressing.
For this salad, we like to use: 1 packet Good Seasons Italian seasoning mix (there will be extra dressing for another salad)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons water
Place all of the above in a container with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously until well mixed.
Susie Iventosch can be reached at suziven@hughes.net.
