Poor celery… so often relegated to lesser roles in cooking. It’s often teamed with the onion and garlic saute that forms a savory base to other dishes or chopped and added to salads like potato salad or pasta salad or dinner salad, but rarely is it the star of the show. And it is absolutely delicious when cooked with a nice supporting cast of seasonings and a top notch co-star like kohlrabi. I am guilty of overlooking this stand out vegetable myself, even though I know it is tasty, so good for you and low in carbohydrates and calories.

Celery is at its most beneficial raw or steamed for about 10 minutes, but this dish is baked and it is still loaded with good nutrients, that’s how loaded the celery is. Add in the kohlrabi and you’ve boosted the nutrients as well as helped your immune system, digestive tract and other functions of your body. This is a win-win.

A little over a week ago, I finally convinced my roomie to try a low carb diet. She’s gone through the counting calories, exercising like a fiend and generally doing everything her doctor and nutritionist has recommended. Very little success. So the past week, I have been looking at all induction friendly meals. This recipe is one that is works for any phase of the Atkins program and any others that limit the types of food you can eat in the first two to three weeks of the program. And did I mention that it is delicious?

Irish Style Baked Celery with Kohlrabi

This is a great side dish with grilled chicken, pork, beef or seafood. You name it. It plays well with it.

1 head celery, fresh (about 7 stalks)
1 Kohlrabi, medium-sized, peeled and sliced thinly
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic
2 slices bacon
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup water or chicken stock
2 tablespoons butter, cold
1 tablespoons whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Separate celery into stalks, remove leaves (save for soup or stew or in your salad) and trim off strings, wash well and cut into pieces about 3/4-inch thick.

Peel and slice the kohlrabi.* Clean and chop the bell pepper. (Cut open and remove the center core with all the seeds and trim the membranes.)

Dice the onion and garlic. Put 1 tablespoon of butter into a heavy skillet to melt, then add the onion and garlic. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then add the celery, kohlrabi and bell peppers. Cook and stir for another five minutes to get mixed and slightly cooked. Put into an un-greased casserole dish or baking pan.

In the sauce pan, melt 1 tablespoon butter, add 1/4 cup water and the chicken bouillon or 1/4 cup chicken stock. Add cream and stir together over low heat. Pour over the celery and mix with a spoon.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until celery is cooked but not mushy.

Makes 4 servings

Nutrition Info:
Calories: 124.5 Fat: 2.1 g Net Carbs: 5.6 g Protein: 3.6 g

*Tip: To make the kohlrabi easier to peel and also speed up the cooking time a little, put the whole kohlrabi into boiling water for about five minutes. Remove to a bowl of cold water to cool, then it will peel and cut easier. Be sure you cut off any fibrous parts of the kohlrabi. Sometimes it is very thick on the skin.

Posted on 9/30/2013