Celery Leaf Chimichurri

Celery Leaf Chimichurri

The local farm stand has fresh picked celery. Unlike the stuff in your grocery store, this is a dark green product that has more leaves than stalks.

So, what can you do with celery leaves?

Chopped fine, they can be used like parsley. The leaves can be used in salads. Here we make a chimichurri sauce/salad dressing/marinade for use on salads, grilled meats and vegetables.

• 1 bunch celery leaves
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil (extra virgin)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/8 large red onion
• 1/2 jalapeno (sliced lengthwise)
• 3/4 tsp sea salt (or Kosher salt)
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1. Put everything in a blender and pulse a few times. Turn the blender on medium speed for one minute. Pour into a Mason jar and refrigerate.

Without a doubt this makes the best salad dressing I ever had.

You can use it on almost anything grilled. It might be a little too strong for fish.

Tonight, I used it in a grilled chicken dish.

Salad Dressing in a Jar

I haven't bought salad dressing in a few years now. It is simple and inexpensive to make. This is an all purpose dressing.

Here we use a Mason jar as container. They are fantastic, cheap and used for canning and preserving as well.

Walmart, Kmart and grocery stores carry some brand of Mason jar in various sizes and quantities. I am using a wide-mouth 32 ounce jar. You can also use a clean, spaghetti sauce jar. 

You'll need this stuff:



200 ml red wine vinegar (about 3/4 cup)
200 ml extra virgin olive oil (about 3/4 cup)
2 rounded tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar



Put all the ingredients in the jar and shake.



The mixture stays emulsified for quite a long time before the oil and vinegar separate.

I am using a 1 to 1 ratio of oil to vinegar. I like dressing with a punch. The sugar and extra virgin olive oil tame the tartness from the vinegar and mustard.

Possible Additions: Finely grated garlic; minced onion; lemon juice