Crunchy Apple, Fennel, and Celery Root Salad

Before enjoying the pear and cranberry crostata with my friends, we filled up on some other fall favorites. To start off the meal, we ate a crispy fall salad of apples, celery root, and shaved fennel. The salad contains some blue cheese and arugula, which makes it a bit heartier.

Ingredients

One half of a celery root, with the edges shaved clean

2-3 fresh and crispy apples (i.e. pink lady, fuji). Avoid mealy apples.

2 bulbs of fennel

5 oz of Blue cheese (Roquefort, Gorgonzola, or Bleu d’Auvergne would work well)

A few handfuls of arugula (like 2oz)

2 fresh lemon

2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil (i.e. canola)

2 tbsp olive oil

Freshly grated black pepper

Kosher salt

• Cut the celery root into matchstick thin pieces. I find the celery root to be a bit too fibrous for the mandolin, so I do this with a sharp knife. Put the celery root into a bowl with the juice of half of a lemon and 2 pinches of salt. Let the celery root sit for approximately 15 minutes to allow the salt and lemon joice to tenderize the pieces.
• Chop off the fronds and trim the tough part outer skin of the fennel. Use a mandolin or a sharp knife to slice the fennel bulbs into thin curls. The fennel curls should be cut as thinly as possible, preferably about 1/32” thick. The fennel should be sliced horizontally to the base, as opposed to vertically.
• Cut the apples in half and remove the core. Use the mandolin or a sharp knife to thinly slice each half. Once again, the apples should be sliced as thinly as possibly. Add the apples to a bowl with the juice of half of a lemon. This will prevent the apples from oxydizing and turning brown.
• Once the celery root has slightly tenderized, add the sliced apples and sliced fennel to the bowl containing the celery root.
• Mix in the blue cheese. Do not overmix to ensure that the blue cheese does not dissolve into the salad. Keeping the cheese chilled will help out with this.
• Make the vinaigrette buy combining the juice of one lemon with a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Whisk in the canola oil and the olive oil. Keep the vinaigrette to serve over the salad right before serving.
• Right before serving, add the arugula to the salad, as well as the vinaigrette.

Notes: Walnut oil works quite well with the salad, so if you have some on hand, try substituting some of the olive oil with the nut oil.

~Danielle