THE MENU: Celery Root and Apple Salad with Hazelnut Vinaigrette by Molly Wizenburg
THE SONG: The First Cut is the Deepest by Sheryl Crow
If Cat Stevens wrote a food blog, he’d probably be singing “The First Post is the Hardest”. I’ve been cooking, taking photos, writing, and even putting together my blogroll all week. Meanwhile, that voice in the back of my head has been chirping, “Briana, write the freakin’ first post already!” But the inaugural post is so… Monumental. Definitive. Scary! So why not start right here, right now, with a great song and awesome food writer whose recipe I’m munching as we speak. Er, write. Here goes!
Molly Wizenburg of Orangette is one of my favorite food bloggers, and she now also writes a monthly column for Bon Appetit. (Her situation is a dream: quit your PhD program to start a food blog and get a book deal, published column, and husband out of it? Color me jealous.) Her Bon Appetit column this month is “A Love Letter to Celery Root”, and includes a recipe for a crunchy, fresh celery root salad. It’s a great recipe, and I’ll be keeping it on hand, if not for celery root, at least for the really simple but tasty vinaigrette. It takes less than ten minutes to make, and in my experience, the smaller you chop your veggies and apples, the more gracefully you’re going to eat this thing. Enough from me, read her story and make the recipe, preferably while listening to Sheryl Crow or Cat Stevens.
CELERY ROOT AND APPLE SALAD WITH HAZELNUT VINAIGRETTE
4 to 6 servings (my note: this is a LOT of salad, you might want to halve it if you don’t have a lot of mouths to feed)
VINAIGRETTE
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 small garlic clove, pressed
1/4 cup hazelnut oil plus additional for drizzling
2 tablespoons olive oil
SALAD
1 medium celery root, peeled and cut into matchstick-size strips
1 medium fennel bulb, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
1 unpeeled Gala apple, cut into strips
Parmesan cheese shavings
VINAIGRETTE Whisk first five ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk in 1/4 cup hazelnut oil and olive oil.
SALAD Combine celery root, fennel, and apple in large bowl. Toss with vinaigrette. Top with Parmesan. Drizzle with additional hazelnut oil, if desired.
Awkward Eating Alert: Long strips of fennel dripping in vinaigrette may end up on your face if this salad is not chopped carefully.
