April’s Harvest of the Month is Celery
Add some crunch to your lunch this month with celery, a mild and nutritious vegetable known for elevating soups, salads and veggie trays.
Full of fiber and nutrients, celery helps fuel us throughout the day. Vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, folate, calcium, and magnesium are some of the important vitamins and nutrients found in celery. Celery may help reduce inflammation, improve digestion and support regular bowel movements.
To enjoy all of the wonderful benefits of celery, you’ll want to make sure it’s fresh. Select celery that is firm and uniform in color. As celery starts to go bad, its color will fade and the stalks will lose their crunch and become bendable. Store the celery in its original packaging or in a bag with the end open in the refrigerator for up to two weeks (preferably in the crisper drawer).
If you have pre-cut celery stalks, you can keep them crispy and fresh for longer by storing them in a water-filled, sealed jar in the fridge. Just remember to replace the water once every one to two days.
Now that you have picked the freshest celery available, you may be wondering what type of family-friendly meals and snacks you can make with it. Celery’s mild flavor pairs well with a variety of foods. One popular way to introduce celery to kids is by making “ants on a log” where you cut the stalks into about three- to four- inch” slices, spread peanut butter into the nooks, and top the peanut butter with raisins. You can also stuff the nooks with tuna or egg salad. Or, you can incorporate chopped celery into soups, salads and sandwiches.
If you have kids ages three to eight, try this fun celery-themed science experiment together that shows how plants absorb water: Get two cups of water and add red food dye to one cup and blue food dye to the other cup (or pick any colors you’d like). Then, cut off the ends of two celery stalks. Place one stalk in the cup with red dye and the other stalk in the cup with blue dye. As the celery absorbs the water over a few days, the leaves will take on the color of the food dye, and you can also see the color by cutting into the celery.
Fun science projects aside, celery is a healthy food choice for people of all ages.
Check out these great celery recipes: