Farm Celery Salad with (or w/out) Curried Chicken
Cascading Kitchen Notes
Method: can be applied to any recipe.
Without wanting to be food snobby, mouth feel is important. Cutting the celery stalk on a long oblique angle reduces the string effect to which many object. You end up with an entirely different looking veggie; not the normal chunks or slices of celery that are hard to grab with a fork when you serve a raw salad.
The idea of combining the celery with hot pepper came from another recipe. The sweet flavor of farm grown, heirloom celery makes all the difference against the hot spicy flavor of any raw pepper.
Celery Salad pointers on Week Nine Video, starts at 5:54
Farm Celery Salad with (or w/o) Curried Chicken
with a fennel option
The inspiration for this recipe came from several in the 6 Seasons cookbook.
Prepare the Dressing
- Zest and juice from 1 lemon
- 3 Tb vinegar from the soaked craisins
- 3 Tb of the craisins that have been soaking in rice vinegar
- 1 tsp sea salt and lots of freshly ground pepper
- 3 Tb seasoned rice vinegar
- 1/2 -3/4 cup neutral flavored oil (grapeseed or avocado)
Prepare the Curried Chicken
This Celery Salad is great even withOUT the chicken, but its addition turns the salad into a full meal.
- 1 lb. of cooked, chopped chicken
- ½ purple onion-minced
- 1 can of whole water chestnuts-minced (optional)
- 2-3 Tbs curry powder
- 1 cup full-fat yogurt (or ½ mayo and ½ yogurt)
Option: Add table grapes (slice large ones in half), or craisins soaked in vinegar.
Assembling the salad in a large bowl:
- Slice 1 head of celery stalks on a long oblique angle. (See the video link on the side if you're curious.)
Immediately sprinkle with ½ tsp sea salt to macerate the celery.
- Mince up ½ cup of celery leaves
Save the rest of the celery leaves to make an amazing soup/sauce resource for the winter.
- ½ purple onion-sliced thin in rings and soaked in a bit of craisin vinegar before serving to soften the bite of onion.
- 1 hot pepper-minced (keep the seeds if you really want some heat)
- 2 apples-chopped with skin on or any fresh fruit in season. If you're using a fragile berry, don't put that on until you've plated the salad.
- Taste and correct the salt and pepper and there may be a need for some more vinegar.
- ½ cup sunflower seeds or toasted, chopped nut to top the salad once it is tossed together with the dressing
Plate the prepared celery salad and place 1 cup of curried chicken salad on top.
Options:
- If you have a fennel bulb-shave in thin slices and add to the salad.
- If you're serving this without chicken, try adding bits of fresh goat cheese to the tossed salad OR add hard boiled eggs, either as wedges alongside the salad or chopped and mixed in.
- Build a bed of lettuce and top with
- macerated celery (see slicing directions on the video in the side column)
- Beet candy
- Macerated red onion slices
- chopped apples or fresh fruit of the season
- goat cheese
- toasted nuts or seeds
- Pour Craisin Vinaigrette Dressing over salad after it's plated.