Celery & Olive Salad

I bet you didn’t realize that celery had a season. I know its something you take for granted. It seems to be always available in the produce section and/or forgotten at the back of your crisper drawer in your fridge, right?

But celery does in fact have a season and when I see it at my farmer’s market I stock up. Because it’s often the crunch that I crave about now as we are just coming out of winter. Celery is a plant that loves the cool weather and with spring almost here, I’m trying to fit in as much celery  before the season ends.

I’ve always been a big celery salad fan. But this past weekend I wanted something a bit different. I didn’t want it fruity like this recipe. And I definitely didn’t want it to have cheese like this recipes since the rest of the meal was already full of cheese. I did want it bright, and somehow extra green, if that means anything?

The dressing I came up with used a big bunch of parsley and also a handful of chopped green olives. Lemon zest and lemon juice brightened it all up and I chose a particularly fruity olive oil from Sicily that smelled of freshly cut grass. It was the perfect side to a meal that was basically one big mozzarella fest.

PrintCelery & Olive Salad

Yield 2-4

Try to buy a full head of celery for this salad. If the leaves are still attached, all the better, since then you know it’s super fresh. If the outside stalks look tough or are a bit hollow, save them for cooking. It’s hard to say how many this dish serves, since it depends on how big  your head of celery is.

Ingredients1 head of celery10-12 big green Castelvetrano olives1 small bunch of flat leaved parsley (about 1 cup of loosely packed leaves)1 lemon, untreated if possiblefruity extra virgin olive oil (like this one)salt & pepperInstructions

Chop the celery into diagonal slices, about 1/8 inch thick, and place in a bowl.

Using the back of a heavy knife, or a meat pounder, whack each olive to smoosh it. This will make it easier to remove the pit.

Finely chop the olive meat, parsley and zest from half the lemon. Put into a small bowl and add olive oil (about 1/4 cup) and lemon juice to taste. Season with salt and pepper

Pour the dressing over the celery and toss. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

For more recipes from Italy see my book The Italian Table.

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