Celery Salad

For Easter Dinner at my friend Maria's there was quite a spread of fantastic food. I brought two dishes and Celery Salad was one of them. This is a healthy crunch salad, full of flavor, protein and fiber. This is a vegan dish that everyone loves. And to top it off, it is easy to make! Just a little mixing of the dressing, toasting of the nuts and some slicing is involved.  

Celery Salad 

Ingredients: 

Dressing

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (I use Meyer lemons when available)

1/2 cup Dijon Mustard

1/3 cup honey (or agave)

1-1 1/4 cups of extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Salad:

2 large Granny Smith Apples (Fuji also works well in this)

1 large bunch of celery

a handful of fresh mint coarsely chopped or torn

1/2 cup walnuts toasted

1/2 cup almond slivers toasted

Method: 

In a blender, add the lemon juice, mustard and honey, mix till well blended then slowly start adding olive oil until the sound changes and it starts to thicken. Taste, add salt and fresh cracked pepper. Pulse once to incorporate the seasonings. 

This can be made ahead and also makes a great dressing for arugula salads, so you may want to double this and keep some for later. 

Thinly slice the celery on a deep diagonal. Place the celery in a bowl of ice water and allow to sit in the water for up to an hour. Drain and pat dry with paper towels. 

Cut the apples into wedges, core and peel and then slice into small triangles (this needs to be done just before serving so that the apples do not brown.) 

Put the celery, apples, mint, almonds and walnuts into a large salad bowl and toss. Add dressing and toss again.