Celery Salad with Cilantro and Sesame

"My humble homage to New York City, this salad is inspired by a restaurant I probably eat at more than any other place: X’ian Famous Foods. It’s a western Chinese-style spot with several locations around New York City, which means when a craving strikes, no matter where you are in Queens, Brooklyn, or Manhattan, you can treat yourself. And I do treat myself. Often. Anyway. I don’t know exactly what’s in their version of this salad; all I know is that it’s 80 percent cilantro stems and 15 percent celery, and 5 percent other stuff like scallions and sesame oil. It’s the perfect thing to eat when getting down on intensely lamb-y noodles or crazy- hot dumplings, but since I started making my own version (I added fish sauce and lime juice, and there’s a heavier ratio of celery to other stuff), I realized I liked eating it with just about everything, but especially things like hot-and-sour chicken or soy-braised brisket. Honestly, though, sometimes I’ll just make one to eat by itself because I am truly “Wild About Celery” (the title of my forthcoming memoir), especially in the summer when it’s too hot outside to eat anything but a bowl of salty, tangy, herby celery. Adapted from Nothing Fancy. Copyright © 2019 by Alison Roman. All rights reserved."