Apple Celery Salad
April 6, 2008 :: by Ingrid
“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” - Francois De La Rochefoucauld
This is a great spring/summer recipe! I’ve made this salad combination multiple times, mostly with a mustard dressing. This time I opted for simple citrus vinaigrette.
I took a different approach with the apple. Usually I chop or slice unpeeled apple pieces and add everything together to make a salad. This time crispy sweet apple plays a dual role as a bowl and as part of the salad mixture.
I used Gala apples in this recipe. Fiji and Golden Delicious apples work well too. Green apples add a subtle sour note as well as a lovely monochromatic color when combined with celery.
As an appetizer, these apple bowls are a fun and unique finger food. Serve on a plate and have napkins handy. You can also serve as a main salad on a bed of fresh spring lettuce.
This salad is simple to make, light, healthy, and delicious. It may be made 3 hours in advance and kept covered and chilled. The vinaigrette and celery pieces can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Apple Celery Salad
This recipe can easily be doubled. In place of walnuts, try almonds, pecans, brazil nuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Also try cilantro in place of parsley.
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons agave
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, broken into small pieces
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 apples, cut in half, cored
Salt and pepper to taste, optional
Whisk first 3 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Set aside.
Trim off bottoms of each celery stalk. Thinly slice stalks straight across or on deep diagonal. Place celery pieces in medium bowl and add walnuts and parsley.
Slice each apple in half and scoop out the core and stem end with a melon baller. Discard the core and ends.
Take a sharp knife or vegetable peeler and slice a very thin slice off the bottom of the rounded side of each apple half so that the apple half can lie open side up.
Take the melon baller and scoop out enough apple flesh to create a hollow bowl. Be careful not to scoop down too far and create a whole at the bottom of the apple half. Set apple bowls aside.
Chop apple flesh into small piece and add to the bowl with celery. Add citrus vinaigrette and add salt and pepper to taste. Combine the mixture well.
Divide the mixture among the apple bowls, pressing it into place. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 3 hours, then serve.
Serves 2 as a main salad - 4 as an appetizer
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