Prepare the celery by washing the sticks, especially the bottoms, which collect dirt. Trim leaves and reserve for another use. Using a vegetable parer, pare away any blemishes or especially rough bits. Slice sticks into roughly 3-inch/7cm pieces. Don’t worry if the sticks break. Reserve the heart for another use; see notes, below, for suggestions.

Peel the carrot and slice it into thin coins.

Peel and chop the onion.

Smash the garlic clove(s) and chop finely.

Squeeze 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

Put all the ingredients into the pot. Salt. Add just enough water to cover. Bring to simmer, and cover with lid. Cook until vegetables are tender, 20-25 minutes.

Water should have cooked down quite a bit, but if any remains, you can either boil it off or save it to reuse. If you opt to cook it off, remove the vegetables from the pot to a dish and keep warm. Turn heat to high and boil water off. Be careful as remaining oil can spit, and pot will be extremely hot.

Carefully pour the oil over the vegetables. Taste for seasoning, and either serve immediately, or when desired.

Leftovers are delicious eaten cold with mayonnaise or added to a ham sandwich. Or prepare an unconventional version of bubble and squeak: heat olive oil and butter in a heavy frying pan. Slip in the leftover vegetables and gently flatten them with a spatula, pressing everything together to get a rough patty. Allow the underside of this celery/potato/carrot mixture to brown. Flip it over, or don’t, as you wish, and serve it with catsup, or not.

If you save the cooking water, refrigerate up to 3 days and either boil it afresh to keep it refrigerated or freeze it up to three months.

Vegetables may be refrigerated in a covered container up to five days. Freezing is not recommended.

Notes:

Feel free to add more potatoes and/or carrots to suit your taste. This is a flexible dish.

Hazan does not specify what type of potato to use in the recipe. I used Russets, because I had them in the house. Russets tend to crumble during cooking, so if this bothers you, use waxier potatoes.

To up the celery heart: try braising it in chicken broth. Or serve it as a crudite with good olive oil, yogurt, or mayonnaise. Or add it to a salad. The leaves may be used anywhere you would use parsley.

*For the record, my random selection of cookbooks included Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Paula Peck’s The Art of Good Cooking, and the first edition of Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone.