Celery for me, can be eaten raw, like on snack trays, it can be used in soups, in seafood and tuna salads made with mayonnaise, in places where you need its rigidity to form support in a dish, in salads and in some tomato sauces.
My mom used to make spaghetti sauce with blended in celery and I started doing it that way, but eventually, stopped, as I wanted the sauce to be more tomato tasting and thicker.
A celery stalk can be used as an edible spoon to eat certain dishes, making it part of the dish at the same time.
Celery can hold a filling, if a stalk is laid on its back, and cooked or uncooked with the filling.
Celery can also be a supporting ingredient in meat loafs and in stuffings, such as turkey stuffing at Thanksgiving Day.
It can also be used, Julienne cut, to include in things like rouladens and meat rolls, along side carrot, leek and onion.