Instant Celery Salad

Delicious green goodness!

This is a simple salad that i invented when the fridge was nearly empty. We usually get our groceries on weekends but had finished all our supplies early for this week. I was in the mood for something light, not hawker food but was too lazy to trek over to the supermarket nearby.

I scanned the fridge: nothing left except some leftover celery and pots of sauces. And an old lemon. Pathetic.


Maybe the cupboard would hold some canned inspirations. There were canned corn kernels and canned chick peas in my emergency stash. Interesting. I could put these together with the celery. For something to zest it up, some leaves from the thai basil plant and fresh lemon juice would be perfect.

It was tough coaxing some juice from the old lemon...

The result? Surprisingly fantastic! Le monsieur, who is not a fan of celery, took a skeptical taste - verdict? Very good!

The fresh crunchiness of the celery is balanced by the sweetness of the corn and the chick peas provide a soft texture to the salad. Overall, this clean summery taste works with strong-tasting or greasy mains courses like roasted meat. But we had it with canned tomato soup this time around. It made a very light and healthy Friday dinner for 2. 

Instant Celery Salad - serves 4

Ingredients 
5 Stalks of celery, diced
1 Can of corn kernels, rinsed and drained
1 Can of chick peas, rinsed and drained

Flavouring
Thai basil - 5-10 leaves according to preference
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: None required
Difficulty level: Easy peasy 

Put the 3 vegetables into a big salad bowl. Chop up the washed thai basil leaves. I usually cut them with my kitchen scissors directly over the bowl. Toss and refrigerate to keep the celery crunchy and fresh.

Just before serving, pour the lemon juice over the salad. Mix well.

Enjoy! Have a wonderfully lazy weekend ahead!