Asian Celery Slaw and Crock Pot Pulled Pork BBQ

Celery is another of my very favorite flavors.  While channel surfing the other morning I came across a new program affiliated with Martha Stewart on the Hallmark Channel called Mad Hungry.  Martha is not on the program but it is related to her banner.  Anyway being a celery fan and feeling it is often unappreciated I took notice of what the hostess was doing with the humble green stalks.

She made what was looking like a very interesting salad which I have adapted as follows:

1 bunch of celery tops and bottoms removed, separated, washed, and cut in half lengths

1 T. rice wine or white vinegar
1 t. toasted sesame oil
4 T. soy sauce
2 dashes Chinese hot chili oil or hot sauce
1/2 t. sugar

2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1 T. toasted sesame seeds

Blanch the celery for 2 minutes in boiling water and shock.  (Remove quickly from boiling water and plunge directly into ice water to cover.)  After cooling drain and using a small knife catch the strings at the top of the section and pull the down to remove from all of the pieces.   They peel right off with great ease.  I was quite surprised!!  Cut the celery into bite sized pieces and set aside while preparing the sauce.

Combine all of the sauce ingredients except the parsley and sesame seeds and toss over the prepared celery, cover and refrigerate until serving time.  At serving time toss in the parsley and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds.

This has a refreshing flavor and both Brian and I liked it.  It is a handy little dish for a salad when it is the end of the week and you have used all your lettuce and cabbage and want the refreshing taste of a salad.

To complete my meal I added an easy pulled pork BBQ.

Just season a boneless well trimmed pork roast well with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Place in crock pot.  Using your favorite bottled BBQ sauce add a few dashes of hot sauce and enough fruit juice to combine well and loosen a bit.

Cook in the slow cooker for 9-10 hours at low setting or 6-7 hours at hi setting depending on the size of the roast.  I usually opt to cook it on hi to get it started and turn it down later combining the temperature settings.

To complete our meal serve this BBQ pork with sliced fresh onion, dill pickles, rye bread and Asian Celery Slaw, complete our meal with Maple Pecan Pie and ice cream or whipped topping.