By Michael Natkin, JTNews Columnist
This refreshing celery and fennel salad is a riff on one that I had at Bastille in Ballard. Their celery salad had tiny pumpernickel croutons and baby artichokes. The one I’ve got for you today has fennel instead of the artichokes, and shaved frozen blue cheese for a garnish.
If you want to add one more component, a few quick-pickled grapes are great. You could also replace or supplement the pumpernickel with toasted (or lightly candied) walnuts or pecans.
Celery and fennel salad
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
1 slice pumpernickel, crust removed, cut into 1/4″ dice
Vegetable oil for frying pumpernickel
4 stalks celery, strings removed, sliced about 1/8″ thick
1/3 bulb fennel, sliced about 1/8″ thick (parallel to the base)
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Lemon juice, as needed
Flaky sea salt (preferably Maldon), as needed
Celery leaves, as needed
Fennel fronds, as needed
Small block of blue cheese, any type, frozen hard
Heat 1″ of oil in a very small pot to about 260º. Slowly fry the pumpernickel cubes until darkened and crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels and reserve.
Combine the sliced celery, sliced fennel, olive oil, and a couple of pinches of Maldon salt in a bowl.
Toss with lemon juice to taste and add more salt as needed.
To serve, divide the salad onto 4 chilled plates. Distribute the croutons, and garnish with the celery and fennel leaves. Immediately before serving, remove the blue cheese from the freezer and shave a few paper-thin slices over each salad, using a mandoline or a vegetable peeler.
Yield: 4 modest servings.
Local food writer and chef Michael Natkin’s cookbook “Herbivoracious, A Flavor Revolution with 150 Vibrant and Original Vegetarian Recipes,” was a finalist in 2013 for a James Beard award. The recipes are based on his food blog, herbivoracious.com.