Curly Celery Salad with Blue Cheese & Toasted Pecans
There is something so great about the fresh taste of celery and usually, it is relegated to being a small ingredient in a larger dish, like an ingredient in soup or salad or even as a minor character in spicy chicken wings. It never dawned on me to make it the focal point of a dinner salad until my good friend Mouna served it to us one night! From that point on, we were hooked, and we’ve enhanced the salad by adding blue cheese and toasted pecans and also incorporating some of the celery leaves, which are not only beautiful but add a flavor all of their own! They are slightly more bitter, but so fresh tasting and they make the salad a bit more complex in nature. This salad is so easy, and all you really need is a good potato peeler or a mandoline slicer if you have one, and your favorite vinaigrette. One of our favorites for this dish is our super light and Zesty White Balsamic (Dijon) Vinaigrette, but any bottled or your favorite homemade dressing will work great. So many options! If you have a dressing you love, please send it our way and we’ll give it a try!
Ingredients
Salad Fixings
- 1 large bunch of celery with leaves still attached
- 2 radishes, very thinly sliced
- 1 carrot cut into long ribbons with a mandoline or potato peeler
- 1 carrot cut into long ribbons with a mandoline or potato peeler
- 1/2 cup pecans pieces, toasted in 350 F oven for about 5 minutes
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 recipe of your favorite vinaigrette (our recipe is below)
Zesty White Balsamic Vinaigrette
- (Yields approximately 1 cup of dressing)
- 1 rounded tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 cup 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup 1/3 cup water
Instructions
- Cut off the bottom of the bunch of celery, separate the bunch into individual stalks and wash.
- Remove about 12 of the celery leaves from the stalks and set them aside.
- Take three of the celery stalks, and using a potato peeler or mandoline makes a few long ribbons from each stalk. Set aside. Chop any remainder left of the stalks.
- Cut the remaining celery stalks into thin slices or bite-sized pieces.
- Put chopped celery into a salad bowl along with the leaves. Arrange the celery ribbons on top of the celery and leaves in the bowl.
- Sprinkle toasted pecans and crumbled blue cheese over the celery.
- Garnish salad with carrot ribbons and sliced radishes.
- Drizzle dressing overall. (If you don’t want a fancy presentation, just toss all of the ingredients with the dressing, but for a pretty visual presentation, just drizzle dressing!
- Pretty simple … mix all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake well! Store in the refrigerator and bring to room temp before tossing your salad!