So, here's a sort of delicious take to work tupperware lunch: crisp Fuji apple mixed in with chopped celery, ribboned black kale (the flat kale rather than the curly) and radicchio. Raw sunflower seeds add the nuttiness factor and the honey vinaigrette rounds the whole thing out with a touch of sweetness with its characteristic perfectly subtle manner. I love this salad as is, but you could always add dried cranberries or some sort of hard salty cheese or shredded bits of cooked chicken if you have any lying around the fridge. Legumes don't really meld well with the earthy fruity flavours but quinoa would be delicious. I tend to start with the most elemental ingredients and then build.
Fill the bottom of whatever size bowl you are serving from with chopped washed celery. If it's a single serving tupperware, fill it 1/4 the way up; if it's a large wooden bowl, do the same. Slice into thin wedges pieces of crisp apple (at this time of year I chose Fuji - a mostly sweet apple with a slight bite - but in the true season of Fall I'd have chosen a mutsu or a honeycrisp) and add to the celery. Add a teaspoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to the mix and toss to coat to keep the apple slices from browning. Cut the kale into thinnish (1/2 inch) ribbons, toss in, then chop up some radicchio. Add. Season with coarse sea salt. Throw in a handful of raw sunflower seeds (or, if you prefer, roasted and salted).
Makes 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup raw, unpasteurized honey, preferably local
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cup olive oil, or oil of choice
In a bowl, whisk together the honey, vinegar, and lemon juice. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour in increments over the salad, tossing to coat.
