Well hey, what a fancy looking apple and celery salad we have here! And just look at that delicious homemade creamy blue cheese dressing on top of the stack of sliced apples and celery. Absolute yum.
A family favorite!
This is one of the most popular side dish recipes here on my website, you all clearly love it a lot!
Do you cook with fresh celery often?
Or should I ask, do you like fresh celery?
I know quite a few people who truly hate fresh celery, you?
Not me though, I love fresh celery. I often munch on a fresh stalk of celery during the afternoon. I like the crunch, that fresh flavor and juicy inside.
Fresh Celery
Oh and yes, you can cook with it as well!
It is not just used as a garnish for a Bloody Mary cocktail.
Which is also my favorite cocktail by the way. And not for the fresh celery of course, but I love the mixture of tomato juice and vodka. I am not a fan of vodka but in combination with tomato juice, yes please!
Celery is a fantastic vegetable and one that is also quite underestimated if you ask me. Look at this fancy looking apple and celery salad then with a delicious homemade blue cheese dressing on top of it!
You will adore it apple celery salad.
Celery Salad with Apple & Blue Cheese Dressing
Plating this salad up was kind of a challenge, I have to admit.
I actually started to loose my cool at one point after quite a while. Because I just didn’t know how to combine the chopped fresh celery and the sliced apple in an appetizing way. Besides I wanted to get it over and done with before the apple would start to turn brown.
So I decided to give it one more chance before throwing in the towel.
Presentation
I really didn’t have an idea on how to plate it.
So I just stacked the apple slices up hoping for the best, sprinkled the chopped celery in between it and actually ended up with a lovely tower of apple and celery.
Happy me!
For this salad I am only using the softer and juicier light green inner stalks. This part is more suitable for fresh and crunchy raw salads than the tougher outer stalks. Keep those to make a sofrito for instance.
Do you also need another celery recipe for those as well?
Then you should also take a look at my Belgian meatballs in a creamy celery sauce!
Enjoy!
Easy Apple Celery Salad Recipe with Blue Cheese Dressing
- 4 stalks fresh celery
- 1 red apple
- 2 tbsp blue cheese
- 1 tbsp cream cheese
- 5 tbsp cream
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pepper
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Rinse the celery and chop it up finely. Add the celery to a mixing bowl.
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Fill another bowl with cold water and then add the lemon juice. Core the apple and slice it up into fine slivers. Add these to the lemon juice bowl.
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Transfer the blue cheese, the cream cheese and the cream to a blender. Season with a pinch of pepper and add half of the poppy seeds.
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Then blend the cheese into a creamy mixture. The dressing should be slightly runny.
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Add half of the dressing to the chopped celery in the bowl and stir well.
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Place some of the celery on a plate. Cover with some apple slices. Then place more celery on top followed by more apple slices and build up the salad like this. Then drizzle with the rest of the blue cheese salad. Finish with some freshly ground pepper and serve.
Easy Grated Apple & Celery Salad Recipe
Here is another summer salad for you to try out!
This apple and celery salad recipe is a great side for anything you throw on a barbecue. Juicy pork chops, fatty chicken wings, spicy Italian sausages…
You name it.
It will be perfect for this side dish!
I used a sweet red apple for this one because I like the specks of the red skin in this salad! However if you find that too sweet, just add a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar in the end to balance that flavor you are looking for.
Easy Grated Apple & Celery Salad Recipe
Or how about another option: use a sour Granny Smith apple!
That will give it the necessary acidity and punch as well.
The mayo dressing gives it a coleslaw kind of appearance and taste. That together with the crunchy poppy seeds and the fresh shallot, makes this a perfect summer salad combo I would say!
You can coarsely grate the celery well in advance but I prefer grating the apple right before putting this salad on the dinner table because it will look so much fresher and appetizing. You don’t want that beautiful apple turn brown and mushy.
Keep it crunchy!
Raw Celery
Do you like the taste of raw celery?
I do!
But I know quite a lot of people who really don’t like at all. Raw celery is also part of my favorite cocktail: a classic Bloody Mary! I love the combination of that strong boozy and spicy tomato juice and then that fresh crunch of the fresh celery.
It is a vegetable that I always have in my fridge.
You can use in raw in a salad, like this celery salad recipe below. Or add it to a mixture finely chopped carrots, onion and garlic to make a classic sofrito.
A flavorful base for tomato sauce or minced meat.
Winter Version
Are you looking for a celery salad recipe that is more suitable for winter dinners?
Then you should also take a look at my celery an apple salad with a blue cheese dressing!
Enjoy!
Easy Grated Apple Celery Salad Recipe
- 1 head of fresh celery
- 1 green apple
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium shallot chopped finely
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- pepper
- salt
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Chop off the bottom of the head of celery that keeps the stalks together. Remove the leaves but keep 2 handfuls aside for garnish later. Rinse the celery stalks well under cold running tap water. Drain them. Grate the celery roughly.
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Then transfer the grated celery to a clean kitchen towel, press it tightly into a big ball and squeeze out any juice. If you don't do this, the celery salad will be soggy and watery in the end, especially when you are preparing the salad in advance.
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Chop the apple into quarters and core them. Then grate the apple as well.
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Transfer both grated apple and celery to a large mixing bowl and season with a generous pinch of pepper and a small dash of salt.
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Add the olive oil, the mayonnaise, the poppy seeds and the chopped shallot.
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Rinse the celery leaves you kept aside. Slice them up finely and add them to the celery and apple in the bowl.
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Stir all the ingredients well to combine. Then check the seasoning and add extra pepper, salt or olive oil to taste if necessary. Transfer the salad to a clean bowl. Serve cold.
So nutrient, How did you are eating it? means in the dinner or meal or breakfast/