Marinated Celery Salad With Chickpeas and Parmesan

Name: Marinated Celery Salad With Chickpeas and Parmesan
Total time: 2 h 40 min
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar, more as needed; 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard; 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey; Salt and ground black pepper; 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled; 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed; 4 cups cooked or canned chickpeas; 4 large or 6 small celery stalks, trimmed (reserve the leaves) and cut into large julienne; 2 large scallions, white and pale green parts, thinly sliced on a diagonal, or 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion; 1 to 2 cups loosely packed celery leaves, coarsely chopped; 1 pint small tomatoes, halved; 1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, rolled and julienned; 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, coarsely grated, or crumbled feta; 1 small loaf (or 1/2 large loaf) day-old, peasant-style crusty bread; Romaine or butterhead lettuce, endive or escarole, cut or torn into bite-size leaves

Recipe from Cara Mangini

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Marinated Celery Salad With Chickpeas and Parmesan — Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Total Time: 30 to 40 minutes, plus marinating
Rating: 5(1,800)
Comments: Read comments

Celery is an underappreciated vegetable that brings wonderful crunch, perfume and bitterness to a salad (and no wonder: It’s related to carrots, parsley and fennel). Here it is front and center in a main-dish salad, especially satisfying with a poached egg or some charcuterie on the side. Buy full green heads of celery, not the pale hearts, and make sure the leaves are still attached. But if you can’t find celery with leaves, chopped parsley is a reasonable substitute. —Julia Moskin

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

For the Salad

3tablespoons sherry vinegar, more as needed
1tablespoon Dijon mustard
½teaspoon maple syrup or honey
Salt and ground black pepper
2garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
⅓cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
4cups cooked or canned chickpeas
4large or 6 small celery stalks, trimmed (reserve the leaves) and cut into large julienne
2large scallions, white and pale green parts, thinly sliced on a diagonal, or ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
1 to 2cups loosely packed celery leaves, coarsely chopped
1pint small tomatoes, halved
¼cup loosely packed basil leaves, rolled and julienned
2ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, coarsely grated, or crumbled feta

For Serving (optional)

1small loaf (or ½ large loaf) day-old, peasant-style crusty bread
Romaine or butterhead lettuce, endive or escarole, cut or torn into bite-size leaves

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, maple syrup and a large pinch each of salt and pepper. Drop in garlic cloves, stir, and set aside 15 to 30 minutes to let the flavor infuse.
Step 2
Gradually whisk in oil; dressing will emulsify. Mix in chickpeas, celery and scallions. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
Step 3
Remove garlic cloves from dressing. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil. Set aside to come to cool room temperature.
Step 4
If desired, make croutons, for serving: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Pull the soft bread out of the center of the loaf, leaving most of the crust behind, and tear bread into bite-size pieces. You should have about 3 cups. Spread pieces on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes, until golden and crisp; let cool.
Step 5
Just before serving, mix celery leaves, tomatoes, basil and croutons, if using, into the salad. In a serving bowl, place a layer of greens, if using, in the bottom. Add celery mixture, then top with cheese and more black pepper.

Ratings

5 out of 5

1,800 user ratings

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Comments

Kim7 years ago

How do you get 2 cups, or even 1, of celery leaves from 4-6 celery stalks?

Suepam7 years ago

Love the dressing! I supplemented the celery leaves with fresh parsley, added lettuce and fennel to the mix. I think feta cheese would work better than parmesan as we found the taste to be somewhat bland with the original recipe. Also I suggest cutting the Celery very thin or cutting across the celery as the Larger julienne celery was awkward to eat .

Jessica7 years ago

Six months on and I'm leaving a second note here because I make this salad all. the. time. With a few changes, though: I mince the garlic, chop the celery, and usually use mint and feta instead of basil and parm. And I've never seen the need for croutons, lettuce, or even the scallions, for that matter.

Aimee3 weeks ago

I have been making this salad almost monthly, for years. I’ve tried most of the variations mentioned depending on what’s on hand, but the original with parm and basil is my favorite. I do often skip the croutons. A variation I particularly like is to throw in cooked and shelled edamame. It’s a great salad for a party and makes a fabulous lunch all week, it holds up well in the fridge for 3-4 days. If I can’t find good tomatoes in winter I’ll leave them out.

Denise11 months ago

I wanted to love this recipe. The first time I made it, I made the recipe according to instructions and the dressing was pretty bland, nothing really stood out. The second time I added the feta as other people suggested, and I increased the maple syrup, Sherry vinegar and the mustard to have sharper flavors. it just Better but still Underwhelming.

Emma11 months ago

This is delicious the perfect winter salad

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