Boiled Celery and Lemon Salad

I made this salad to follow a tuna pasta dish. I boiled the celery and lemon in the water that I would go on to use to cook the pasta. Mary Taylor Simeti had used celery in several dishes for tuna and I had no lettuce for a salad, so felt inspired to make this dish. It was very good.

Ingredients

5 ribs of celery
½ a large lemon, or 1 small lemon
olive oil
½ teaspoon sugar
salt

How to make

Boil a large pan of water and add 1 tablespoon of salt (I used it to cook pasta afterwards). Trim off the darker green ends of the celery stalks. Cut the celery ribs into 1 inch pieces. Cut the lemon in half, lengthways, cut out the flesh with a small sharp knife and keep for making a dressing. Slice the pith/skin into 1/2cm thick strips. Add the celery and lemon strips to the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and shake off. (I used the salted water to cook pasta after this). Arrange on a plate. Mix together sugar, a pinch of salt, juice from the flesh of ½ the lemon and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Pour the dressing over the plate and mix to coat the celery and lemon strips.