Sesame Ginger Celery

Sides for dinners can be tricky, which is why we created this sesame ginger celery recipes. I feel like side dishes can be boring or become very repetitive. Most of the time the star of the dish is that steak, or the chicken breast. But that doesn’t mean that the sides have to be lacking. In the past we have also been guilty of defaulting the rice or potatoes with some type of steamed or roasted vegetable. While none of that is wrong, and it’s generally pretty healthy. It’s just not fun.

This recipe is a nice combination of healthy and flavourful. The celery and carrots are cooked just to the point of still having a little crunch. The cashes and green onions that top it also have a crunch. While the sauce is flavourful and really brings an asian flare. This is definitely not a boring side dish, and can accompany any meat. We paired it with pork and rice. The sauce from this recipe also makes a great base for a stir fry. Just add in a ton of veggies and maybe some chicken and you have a great tasty dish.

Add in some Ginger

Matt tends to lean towards more asian flavours. He loves cooking with ginger and sesame. I actually used to not be a big fn of ginger, but Matt apparently has been subtly sneaking it into my food for quite some time. If you cook with ginger properly, you won’t even taste it, it will just enhance the overall flavour. This is exactly how Matt was able to get away with sneaking it into my food for so long without be noticing.

Cooking with Sesame

There are also two different sesame ingredients in this dish. First there is sesame oil. Please note that there is only a very very small amount in this recipe. That is because sesame oil is very strong and can quickly ruin a dish. If you add in too much, all you will taste is sesame oil and nothing else. We also top this dish with toasted sesame seeds, which adds a nice nutty taste without any nuts. If you have a nut allergy just omit the cashews and you will still get a nice nutty flavour from the toasted sesame seeds.

Gluten Free Soy Sauce

Gluten free soy sauce is actually a lot easier to find than most people thing. When you first make the switch to gluten free you may feel overwhelmed and frustrated. You start looking at all the foods you regularly eat and realized gluten is in about 70% of them. But every once in a while you will also notice that something you eat or use regularly in cooking is actually gluten free. For me that was VH soy sauce. It is in almost every grocery store, it is literally so easy to find and it is gluten free. A lot of the VH sauces/products are actually gluten free and this makes cooking so much easier.

Generally BBQ sauces and salad dressings have hidden gluten in them. This has led us to make a lot of sauces and dressings ourselves so that we don’t have to stress about small traces or cross contamination. However, it is also always great to have some go to products that are tasty and make cooking in a flash easy. The VH products make cooking stir fry and marinating meat extremely easy. Just check which products you’re buying because not all of them are gluten free. I also don’t believe that they are certified by the Canadian Celiac Association so I would use your own discretion.

Vegetables and side dishes no longer have to be boring. This recipe gives side dishes a whole new name. Let us know if you try out this Sesame Ginger Celery. If you’re looking for more side dishes check out our Mini Smashed Potatoes.

Print Recipe

Sesame Ginger Celery

Crispy celery and carrots with cruchny cashews, subtle hints of ginger and toasted sesame. A great gluten free side dish to accompany any main course.

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 3 stalks celery
• 1 medium carrot
• 1 stalks green onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 1 cup unsalted cashews
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce we use VH brand
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• Pepper to taste

Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Servings people Ingredients 3 stalks celery 1 medium carrot 1 stalks green onions 2 cloves garlic 1 tbsp ginger 1 cup unsalted cashews 1 tbsp sesame seeds 1 tbsp oil 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce we use VH brand 1 tbsp red wine vinegar 1/4 tsp sesame oil 1 tbsp honey Pepper to taste

Instructions

Prep

1. Take your unsalted raw cashews and slightly crush with heavy rolling pin or the back of a knife. Set aside.
2. Heat a small pan over medium heat. When the dry pan is hot, toss in your sesame seeds. Stir constantly for 2 minutes with a wood of silicone spoon. Don't leave these unattended or they will burn. Once done toasting, remove the sesame seeds from the pan and put aside.
3. Wash and dry all produce. Thinly slice your celery stalks and your carrot on an angle. The carrot should be thinner than the celery so that they have the same cooking time.
4. Thinly slice green onion. Set aside.

Sauce

1. Grate or mince 3 cloves of garlic. Grate 1 tbsp of ginger.
2. Combine garlic, ginger, gluten free soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and honey in a small pot over medium high heat. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Vegetables

1. Heat a large pan or wok over medium high heat. Once hot add 1 tbsp of oil. Add in celery, carrots and half the cashews and cook for about 6 minutes.
2. Pour in the sauce and cook for about 2 minutes or until the sauce slightly thickens. Stir occasionally, so that nothing sticks and the vegetables are coasted.

Finish and Plate

1. Once the vegetables and sauce have finished cooking. Divide the mixture between plates.
2. Top with sliced green onion, the remaining cashews and toasted sesame seeds.
3. ENJOY!

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