Celery and Green Apple Salad

This Celery and Green Apple Salad has that delightful chewy and crunchy factor. It’s super refreshing, assembles in just minutes, and can be adapted to use whatever you have on hand.

Last year, while my neighbor Suri was at my door to pick up her daughter, the subject of recipes came up. Of course.

It seems that Suri had a steady supply of tried and true new ideas courtesy of her sister Shaindy, who is an adventurous cook who is not scared to try new things. When something works, she passes it along to her sister.

Sometimes Suri tries them, and sometimes she doesn’t, but when she told me about this salad that her sister had originally tried at the David Citadel, my ears perked up.

It sounded so original, refreshing…and very importantly, easy!

I also tried it, and once we did once, it became a staple.

For one, it’s so flexible. Simply chop equal proportions of green apple and celery. 

Then, add your dried fruits like apricots and Craisins. Want to add some dates for this season? Go ahead. They’ll go perfectly. Really, you can use the dried fruits you already have on hand–you just want that chewy factor. 

Then add your crunch. For now, we’re using granola (it’s our “crunch” standard for the Rosh Hashanah season when we’re avoiding nuts), but during the rest of the year, any combination of nuts is perfect. I originally tried this with almonds and pecans, but cashews are also great, and we also enjoyed this nut-free version using granola. 

What type of granola? You can either crush up a Nature Valley bar (always easy and accessible), but I made a big batch of this No Nut Granola to use all Yom Tov long. I also use that granola instead of the Oat Crumble in these Apple Crumble Sundaes.

Then simply toss with a little olive oil, lemon juice (or vinegar, depending on your minhag), and either maple syrup, silan, or honey. 

You don’t really need to measure, you’ll see that after the first time you make it, but we did anyway.