Celery superfood

Growing up my mom would put cream cheese on celery, later I heard about peanut butter on celery ... and both of these so-called snacks, not only put a wad of bad fats in my mouth, but they damn near gag me to eat them.
But I crave celery.
So I searched the web to find out what this vegetable has, that I need ... and I did (find out):

1. Celery combats inflammation.   I battle inflammation all the time, from food, from alcohol, from working out ... it seems I'm pin-cushion material, maybe pop a naproxen and get it to chill ... but who wants to take drugs if a food can help out.
2. Celery is like crunchy water.   There is a high water content to celery, so it fills you up, but also hydrates you.
3. Celery has many essential salts
4. Celery is rich in flavonoids  (yes anti-cancer stuff, skip the glass of wine!)
5. Celery has lots of vitamin K, helps your bones

The list goes on, check out these two sites. for more info:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/11-super-health-benefits-in-just-1-celery-stalk.html
and
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/celery.html

So I set out to create some great celery salad, modified a recipe I found online and voila !  So happy to eat this salad I nearly wept, it was all-at-once, crunchy, salty, nutty, spicy, sour and felt very much a cross between Vietnamese and Thai, really, so here goes:

Thai Celery Salad

Ingredients
5 Stalks Celery, sliced on the bias (angle your knife sharply when cutting, while spinning the celery)
3 Green Onions, sliced thinly
3 tbs Red onion, sliced thinly, then chopped
1/2 Serrano Chile, sliced thingly
1/4 Cup Cilantro, chopped (stems and leaves)
3 tbs peanuts, halved
1 tbs sesame seeds
Salt and Pepper
Sauce
2 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fish sauce


Directions
Whisk together sauce ingredients with a fork.   Make sure the serrano is sliced very thin, and even then cut those in half so the heat is dispersed a bit.

Pour the sauce over the salad, and toss, then plate.

Note:  I sprinkle the sesame seeds and peanuts on each individual plate, just a little goes a long way with the peanuts.  Remember, this dish is all about the celery !

Enjoy!