Celery & Apple Salad with Toasted Walnuts

In the winter, the variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables is limited due to shorter days and colder temperatures so getting creative is key. This quick and easy celery and apple salad brings together two staples you probably already have on hand and transforms them into a concert of crunch and flavors you'll want to make again and again.

Celery is a pretty common vegetable and you're probably pretty familiar with it. Celeriac (or celery root), on the other hand, never really became a household staple in the same way. I use both in this salad, so if you're not familiar with one or both, I'll explain how they're related and how they differ in the "Ingredients" section below.

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• Ingredients
• How to Make Celery and Apple Salad with Walnuts
• Equipment
• Storage
• Related
• Consider This

Ingredients

You probably have most of the ingredients in this salad in your refrigerator - except for the celery root. Hopefully, after you learn more about this versatile and hearty vegetable and try it in this salad, you'll plan to keep one or two around and try a few new recipes to experience all the different dishes you can make with them.

Ingredients for Celery and Apple Salad

• Celery: Buy celery that looks bright-green and full of water (which means it will be crunchy and full-flavored).
• Celeriac (celery root): Celeriac is a pale-yellow, dense, knobby root vegetable. It’s roughly the size and shape of a grapefruit (see the photo above). It is excellent in stews and soups and can be cooked down and blended into a silky purée. When used raw, it adds a peppery, refreshing flavor, similar to celery but with maybe a bit earthier.
• Apple: You'll want to use a sweet, tart and crunchy variety of apple. For this, I used a Pink Lady apple. You could also use a Fuji or a McIntosh.
• Toasted walnuts: Toasting the nuts will reduce their bitterness and deepens their earthy flavors. Preheat your oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the nuts out on the parchment and roast for 5-10 minutes. Watch closely or set a timer. Nuts can go from toasty to burned in a quick minute if not watched closely. Cool before using.
• Lemon: You'll be juicing the lemon. Make it easy by bringing your lemon to room temperature so it will yield its juice more easily.

Ingredients for Creamy Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing

• Dijon mustard: I love the flavor of dijon mustard in dressings. Buy a good dijon mustard that doesn't contain fillers. I like this brand.
• Vinegar: I used white wine vinegar here but you could also use apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Use a good quality oil because you'll taste it and a good quality oil will lend the right texture to the salad.
• Garlic: Make sure your garlic is fresh without blemishes or green shoots.
• Raw organic honey: To identify good, pure honey, look for labels that indicate "raw," "unpasteurized," or "minimally filtered." And to confirm it's a pure honey, do the water test - spoon a little bit of honey into a glass of water. Pure honey will settle at the bottom of the glass. Look for products like this one.
• Lemon juice: I like to use Meyer lemons when lemon juice is called for in a salad dressing recipe because it's less bitter to the taste.
• Salt and pepper: Use a good kosher salt, pink himalayan salt or maldon and grind fresh black pepper for the best flavor.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to Make Celery and Apple Salad with Walnuts

There are a few steps here, but they mostly involve chopping your ingredients into uniform pieces. It's a great opportunity to practice your knife skills, but the process is easily streamlined with a good mandoline like this one.

Now that you have all your salad ingredients prepped, it's time to quickly whip up a creamy dijon vinaigrette dressing that brings all the flavors of the salad together. This is super easy to do if you have a personal blender. I use one from Nutribullet and love it, especially for quickie recipes like dressings because they do the trick and clean up is super fast.

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.

• Chef's knife: A chef's knife is a foundational kitchen tool. Invest in a good one and care for it consistently. Enough said. I use this 8" classic Henckels.
• Sharpening steel: Hone your knife on a regular basis so it remains razor sharp. I use this ceramic model from Sharpeak.
• Personal blender: A personal blender is a quick and easy way to make salad dressings and sauces without having to pull out and clean your high speed blender. I use this Nutribullet.
• Mixing bowls: Buy a set of glass mixing bowls and you'll never look back. I use several bowls every single day.

Storage

Store the vegetables and dressing separately. I generally store the vegetables in a large ziploc bag for one or two days. The dressing can be stored in an airtight glass jar with a lid for 3-5 days.

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