Amazing Celery Salad!

Wes  (my husband) had to go to the Clark Realty Annual Meeting & Potluck this morning and so I sent him off with a big bowl of Celery Salad. This recipe is adapted by one on Epicurious.com. I first tasted it when my friend Janet Montrosebrought some to a party at our house. I love the light crispy fresh salad so much that I make it often. It is best eaten immediately after making.

Here is the very easy recipe:

Celery Salad
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (I use Meyer because we can get them all year here)

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

5 teaspoons local honey (I use macadamia honey)

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

lots of freshly ground black pepper

a generous pinch of sea salt ( use smoked salt here)

1 large bunch celery with leaves

2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered, cored; each quarter cut into 2 wedges, then thinly sliced crosswise into triangle shapes

3/4 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped

Whisk first 3 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

Trim celery leaves and chop. Thinly slice stalks on deep diagonal. Place celery pieces in bowl of cold water. (Vinaigrette, celery leaves, and celery pieces can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)

Drain celery; pat dry with paper towels. Combine celery, celery leaves, apples, and walnuts in large bowl. Add vinaigrette and toss to coat. Taste and season salad to taste with salt and pepper if needed.

North Carolina Cole Slaw

Part of our Superbowl Table included one of my favorite simple salads, North Carolina Cole Slaw. It paired perfectly with the chicken wings and other savory dishes. It is easy to make and disappears from the table quickly. It is also a "must" when serving East Carolina BBQ sandwiches... goes on top and as a side dish. And for those who care, this is a VEGAN dish.

Here is the simple recipe:

• 1/2 cup of cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil (optional but I find it makes the salad smoother tasting)
• 4 tablespoons sugar or agave syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh cracked pepper
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds (optional)
• a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon of Tabasco (optional)
• 1 head green cabbage

Mix all ingredients except the cabbage together and stir well till the sugar is dissolved. 

Shred the cabbage. I use the slicing blade on my food processor, but you can slice by hand or with a grater that has a slicing blade. You do not want this to be grated in small pieces as with a creamy cole slaw. 

20-30 minutes before serving toss the dressing with the cabbage and chill till serving time, toss again and add more black pepper. 

Thai Spicy Beef Salad : Yam Nuea

Last night my friend Ron came to dinner and we had a Thai and Viet Dinner. I made Vietnamese Summer Rolls with shrimp, peanuts, cucumber, herbs, radishes, carrots, rice noodles, ginger, chiles and bean sprouts. They were served with two sauces. I also made Spicy Beef Salad, Yam Nuea, which literally means "tossed beef". It is one of my absolute favorite things. While this recipe is exact, I usually eyeball the ingredients and adjust and taste until the flavors are at their most pungent. I make it spicy, but you can serve the chiles on the side if you have someone who cannot take the heat. This is also something I love to make when I have steak left over for any reason. Sometimes I just grill an extra one and save it for the next day's salad.. I have taken some liberties here by adding ingredients that may not be found the purest form of the recipe in Thailand, though I took measures not to "Americanize" the recipe. 

Thai Spicy Beef Salad : Yam Nuea

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless steak, almost any cut works for this, but I generally use sirloin or rib eye. 

Salad

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots or red onions, separated
• 2 tomatoes, wedged
• 1/2 cup sliced cucumber1/8 cup thinly sliced 
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup very thinly sliced cucumber
• 1 inch piece of galangal (or ginger if you cannot find galangal) finely minced Thai chile peppers or Hawaiian peppers
• 1/2 cup each rough chopped Thai Basil, Mint, green onions and Cilantro
• 1 inch piece of galangal (or ginger if you cannot find galangal) finely minced 

Garnish (use all or any of these as you desire)

• Bean sprouts and/or lettuces, enough to make a bed on a platter
• Toasted sweet rice (see note)
• Toasted Peanuts
• Sliced kumquats 
• Lime wedges
• Chopped Thai Basil

Sauce

• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 3 tbsp. sweet dark soy sauce 
• 3 tbsp. sweet chili sauce
• 6 tbsp. minced garlic
• 3 tbsp. minced galangal or ginger
• 3 tbsp. chopped coriander/cilantro (including the roots)
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots (small red or purple onions)
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 3 Thai Chiles minced finely

INSTRUCTIONS

Barbeque the beef, it should be rare to medium rare on the inside and nicely crusted on the outside. Slice as thinly as possible. If the steak is wide, cut pieces in half so that they can be eaten without using a knife. 

Put dressing ingredients in a blender and combine.  Pour about 1/4 cup of the dressing over the beef slices and allow to marinade for about 30 minutes. If you do not have a blender or want to do this the old fashioned way, you can use a mortar and pestle to crunch up the dry ingredients and then add to the liquid. 

Put all salad ingredients together and toss in a bowl with the sauce. Place the salad on a platter lined with bean sprouts and/or cabbage or lettuce. Garnish as desired. 

NOTE: The toasted sweet rice is toasted in a dry skillet and then ground slightly either using a pestle and mortar or a small grinder. This is an essential textural element to the salad.

Serving:

Serve with sticky rice, lettuce, condiments and dipping sauce.

In Thailand the first two condiments below (Nam pla prik and Prik dong) are likely be on every household's table together with a separate small dish of plain white sugar and a separate small dish of ground chili powder. Spoonfulls of each are added to suit individual taste. You can make a portion of Nam pla prik and Prik dong and keep in a jar (non refrigerated) for serving as a condiment in this manner. These condiments keep very well.

Prik Si-iew wan, kratiem dong and Khing Ki mao are less common and usually served for particular dishes.

Nam pla prik:

Put two thirds of a cup of Thai chile peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with fish sauce. Seal and keep for a week before using.

Prik dong:

Put two thirds of a cup of Thai chile peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with white rice vinegar.

Prik si-iew wan:

Put two thirds of a cup of jalapeno peppers in a 1 pint jar, and fill with sweet dark soy sauce.

Kratiem dong:

Peel and slice two thirds of a cup of garlic, place it in the 1 pint jar, add 1 teaspoon of palm sugar, and one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of MSG (optional but recommended) and topped up with white rice vinegar.

Khing ki mao:

Julienne two thirds of a cup of fresh ginger (into match stick sized pieces). Place in the 1 pint jar. Add half a cup of whiskey (rice whiskey if available). Add 1/2 cup white rice vinegar, and fill up the jar with fish sauce.
You can play with this basic salad and substitute grilled tofu or grilled eggplant to make this vegetarian, of course then you need to find vegetarian fish sauce equivalent. I have seen this in Asian markets. You could also use it with pork tenderloin or shrimp. 

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.