Before you get your shorts in a bunch, yes... This salad does have celery. And no, the celery won't ruin it. I promise you it's delicious and worth a try. The celery here is mainly added for its incredible crunch.
Also- I believe that a vinaigrette is quite personal to each persons Palate so as long as you roughly follow the recipe below, simply adjusts it to what your tongue wants. I believe that a good vinaigrette should be balanced so if it needs more acidity just add a bit more lime, if you prefer a sweeter dressing, drizzle on some more honey. Just taste as you go and trust your tongue. You got this, babe.
Vinaigrette Ingredients:
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp dijon
chili flakes to taste
1 tsp honey
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salad ingredients:
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced on mandoline
1/3 cup pitted & quartered cherries
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
handful crushed pistachios
Enough feta cheese to make ya happy
Long story short, all you need to do is whisk up your vinaigrette, slice your veg/fruit and toss together.
But for the sake of me not being lazy, I'll drop a few key notes.
For the vinaigrette, the key here is to get a nice balanced dressing that will tie this whole salad together. I would begin by adding your lime, salt, pepper and chili flakes to a small bowl. The acidity sorta brakes down the spices so it ensures that everything will be mixed properly. I would then add the honey so that also breaks down and doesn't clump up at the bottom of your bowl. Next, vigorously whisk the bowl while you slowly stream in your olive oil. This will ensure the oil gets properly emulsified which will result in a silky vinaigrette with a creamy mouthfeel.
For your veg, getting thin slices is important. I highly recommend picking up a mandoline slicer ASAP. I would say it's one of my top 5 tools in my kitchen. For the fennel I would slice at about 1/8 inch thickness and I'd hand slice the celery at around 1/8-1/4 inch. You want thin but not paper thin slices, otherwise you'll get a flaccid slaw texture. No one wants a flaccid slaw. We want snappy, crunchy and vibrant.
And for those who have that whole "Cilantro tastes like soap" thing, first of all, I am sorry... Second, I'd just skip the cilantro, maybe substitute for parsley or just add in the fennel fronds or chives as an alternative herb.
I really hope you give this salad a try, it's very simple and in my opinion tastes delicious. It also paired very well with all sort of proteins so this Salad can work well beside some of your dinner favorites. And if you bring this to a dinner party, your friends will be very impressed with very minimal effort. Enjoy!
