What do you do with a huge bunch of celery from your CSA? Make this delicious salad! It can be made vegan by the substitution of nutritional yeast for the parmesan cheese.
Ingredients:
8 long celery stalks, leaves separated & reserved, tough fibers peeled off with vegetable peeler, sliced on an angle in ¼-inch thick pieces. (Emma: I take the whole dang bunch, including the leaves and dice it all up finely. It seems to work and prep goes much faster.)
1/2 cup raw almonds, roughly chopped (marcona, blanched or raw almonds all work)
4 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 ½ lemons)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional. Emma: I bet curry powder would be delicious too!)
Sea salt, to taste
2 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano cheese shaved into shards or use a grated finely - about 1/3 cup (or 1/3 cup nutritional yeast)
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Method:
Place celery in a bowl of ice water & soak for about 20 minutes to heighten crispness. Drain the celery and pat it dry with tea towel, then pile the celery into a medium serving bowl.
Toast the almonds, warm them in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring often, until fragrant and toasted, about 5-7 minutes. Watch out - they will burn easily if you are not paying attention. Transfer to a cutting board and chop with chef’s knife. (You can do this while celery is crisping).
To the bowl of drained celery, add chopped almonds, dates, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes and toss to combine. Add the cheese (nutritional yeast) and olive oil and toss gently. Taste and add more salt, pepper and/or red pepper flakes until you reach the balance of salty, spicy, tart and sweet that you desire. (Emma: I have also added a chopped green onion in here too - YUM!)
Serve at room temperature or chilled. This salad keeps well, covered & chilled, for about 3 days. (Before serving, toss again & pour off some of the excess liquid)
