Celery, Kohlrabi, Apple, and Walnut Salad
The Whale Wins, Seattle
Ingredients
Salad:
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 6 stalks celery, from the heart of the bunch, cut into 1/4‐inch diagonal slices
- 3 baseball‐size kohlrabi (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
- 1 Bosc pear or sweet‐tart apple, such as Honeycrisp, halved, cored, and cut into paper‐thin slices
- 1/2 cup loosely packed celery leaves (just the pale‐green inside leaves)
- 1/2 cup loosely packed parsley leaves (no stems)
- 1 cup whole walnuts, toasted
- Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon or Jacobsen
Vinaigrette:
- Big pinch of kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup toasted walnut oil
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Method
Bring a small pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Add 2 tablespoons kosher salt to the boiling water. Add the sliced celery and cook for 10 seconds. Drain the celery and plunge it into the ice bath until cool, then drain it again and lay it out on a towel to dry.
Next, peel the kohlrabi and cut it into 1/8‐inch‐thick matchsticks. If you’d like to make the salad ahead, put the celery and kohlrabi into a mixing bowl, cover with a damp paper towel, and refrigerate for up to 6 hours before serving.
Make the vinaigrette: in a small bowl, whisk the salt together with the vinegar and mustard. Mix the oils together in a measuring cup, then add them to the vinegar mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking as you go, mixing until the oil is completely incorporated. Set aside.
Just before serving, combine the celery, kohlrabi, pear, celery and parsley leaves, walnuts, and reserved vinaigrette in a large bowl. Toss the ingredients together until everything is well coated, season to taste with flaky sea salt, then pile onto plates and serve.
Yield
8 servings as part of a larger meal, or 4 to 6 with regular dinner