Celery Leaf Chimichurri Recipe

I am not a fan, generally, of celery leaves. I'll occasionally put it in soup, but generally, there are too many celery leaves in each package of celery stalks for me to use it all up in soup, and so it often goes to waste. I decided to do something about that and make use of the celery leaves. I thought at first to make it into pesto, then realized I had neither nuts nor cheese nor nutritional yeast needed for that, and so I decided to make chimichurri from the leaves and it came out wonderfully. I plan on using this as a dip/spread for a budget charcuterie board, which I will be sharing shortly. This recipe is vegan, gluten free, allergy friendly, and if you're someone that buys celery for the stalks, it is "nearly free" because it uses up something that otherwise may have been tossed. 

Chimichurri is generally used as a topping for meat, but you can use it as you would any condiment, or as a seasoning. It goes well on toast, in a pasta salad, on eggs, in potato salad, and many more ideas (see here for inspiration).

If you don't have a blender or food processor, you can chop this very finely by hand as is traditional, but I prefer to use a machine to save the work, and I don't mind a more smooth texture for mine.

Celery Leaf Chimichurri Recipe

Ingredients:

1/3 cup celery leaves packed
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dried or fresh oregano

2 cloves garlic
4 teaspoons wine vinegar (traditional) or apple cider vinegar (less traditional)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Hot pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Roughly chop your celery leaves and put them and the garlic in a food processor or blender. If using a food processor, process it first then add the rest of the ingredients. If using a blender, add vinegar and oil now.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients, adding the hot pepper and salt just a little bit at a time, blend up/mix, until it is the right spiciness and saltiness for you.

3. If using dried oregano, let sit at least 30 minutes before using, for the oregano to fully soften.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of celery leaves? If you don't love the leaves, what do you do with them? Would you try making them into chimichurri? What is your favorite way to eat chimichurri?