Healthy, easy raw salad of shaved fennel, celery root, and apples, tossed with watercress in a buttermilk-yogurt dressing with a hint of mustard.
Make the salad in 20 minutes, and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours for best flavor before tossing with watercress or other greens.
In late November I signed up for a give-away on EA Stewart’s The Spicy RD blog. I haven’t participated in many of these give-aways, and haven’t hosted any at all, but EA was giving away a pedometer.
Now I have wanted a pedometer for a few years now. I’ve torn out reviews of pedometers I’ve seen in magazines, newsletters, and newspapers and filed them away (in a stack of other snippets torn out of anything I read). The problem was, I kept filing the reviews away, and would promptly forget all about them (along with just about everything else in the pile). The pile eventually had babies and soon I had multiple piles spread around my office. I finally bought a large, attractive, cloth box at Containers to house my piles so that I would feel oh-so-organized. But ultimately nothing was ordered, nothing was purchased, and just ended up with more room for even bigger piles.
Maybe there were so many options, I couldn’t decide. Maybe I kept thinking someone would gift one to me for Valentine’s. Maybe I procrastinated for no good reason at all.
So when I saw the give-away, I tossed my fate into the wind. The truth is, I like EA’s blog – we were Love Blog-Hop co-hosts several times, which is a great way to get to know new blogs and bloggers. And I liked the challenge she threw out to her readers to make a commitment to some form of exercise for the month of December and check in with her on twitter on our progress. I’d been idle too long, and this was the kick in the pants I needed. Thanks to her challenge, I started recording my exercise on my calendar on my computer in December. It continued into January, and a buddy of mine, Liz the Chef, and I started checking in with each other almost every day on our daily commitment to exercise. And then I received notification that I actually WON the pedometer. I was over the moon.
And I LOVE it. I clip it on every morning so I can see how much I’m walking in my day-to-day life and have recommitted myself to regular walking and hiking. I’m nailing down my baseline over the next couple of weeks, and will then start to increase my weekly average. Nothing like a new toy to juice up work-out motivation. Thanks so much, EA!
I still don’t know why I waited so long to get a pedometer. But if there’s something you’ve been wanting that you think would re-motivate you to move your body, then do it. If you've been wanting to try a new healthy food, head to the store today. I've been wanting to make more raw dishes, hence this salad recipe below. And please go check out EA’s blog, The Spicy RD. She’s a Registered Dietician with some great, great recipes I think you’ll enjoy.
Last month I focused on roots, although I blogged about other things as well. This month's focus will be greens, and as a segue, this salad has both. Fennel, celery root, and apple flavors were born to play together, and in this salad they make a refreshing lunch for two. Other greens will work if that's what you have on hand, but peppery watercress is a perfect foil for this buttermilk-yogurt dressing that has just a hint of mustard.
Celery Root Apple Salad with Fennel in a Buttermilk Dressing
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium fennel bulb
- 1 apple either Fuji and Honeycrisp apples work great
- ½ medium celery root
- 4 teaspoons lemon juice divided
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ cup plain non-fat yogurt
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds
- 1 bunch watercress
Instructions
- Set a hand-held mandolin on the thinnest setting, and slice the fennel, celery root and apple into very thin slices. It's important that they be thin since it's a raw salad. Or use a sharp Chef's knife.Place in a medium bowl, sprinkle on 1 teaspoon lemon juice to keep from turning brown, and toss. Set aside while you make the dressing.
- Mince the clove of garlic as finely as possible, almost to a paste. Place in a small bowl. Add the yogurt, buttermilk, vinegar, remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, and mustard, and whisk together.Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss the raw veggies with the dressing, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to seep into the celery root, apples and fennel.
- Just before serving, add the watercress and toss again.Top with pumpkin seeds or hazelnuts.
apuginthekitchen
Congratulations on winning the pedometer, I know how you feel, I rarely enter anything, I'm just not lucky when it comes to random drawings. Wonderful salad, I need to eat more, really get myself in gear.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
The older I get, the more motivation I seem to need to get (and keep) moving :-(. So I need every trick I can find. This is such a refreshing salad - hope you give it a try Suzanne!
EA-The Spicy RD
I love this post Susan, and so happy to get the workout motivation started-just do it :-). Now you know the power of the pedometer-it really is a great motivational tool! Thanks so much for the shoutout-love your healthy recipes too!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks again EA! I think of you and your blog everytime I take a walk now 🙂
Erika
Ahh how exciting! I also won a giveaway recently that I was not expecting AT ALL and over the moon is a perfect way to describe how I was feeling.
This salad looks delicious. I've been obsessed with roasting fennel lately and I'm a little scared to try it raw, but this does sound super healthy! Good for you for not only upping your exercise, but also eating so healthily!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I love roasted fennel! With a little parmesan cheese and I'm in Heaven. The secret to eating it raw is the thin slices. A little mandolin is absolutely necessary. Otherwise it's beyond crunchy 🙂
Shelby | Diabetic Foodie
I have a pedometer, but haven't even taken it out of the box yet! Thanks for the reminder. I've never had celery root or fennel raw, but I love the idea.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I hope you enjoy your pedometer as much as I am, Shelby! Mine sat in the box for a couple of weeks and now it's my constant companion. The secret to eating salads of raw sturdy vegetables like celery root, fennel, beets, etc is to make sure they're sliced very, very thinly. Otherwise they'll be way too crunchy to eat, let alone enjoy. A manodolin is critical for this - I just use a small countertop model I picked up at Sur La Table.
Hannah
What a fun gift to win! At my husband's office they all wear pedometers and have contests every few weeks as motivation to walk more. Love all the fresh flavors in your salad! This buttermilk dressing sounds scrumptious.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
What a terrific idea, Hannah! I think these little things are GREAT motivational tools.
lizthechef
So pleased for your "prize" - I used to have one but it is lost somewhere. Let's keep exercising! Love your recipe and pinning your pretty shot. X0 Liz ps Thanks for the link...
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Well after all my big talking, this was a lazy day for me, but tomorrow for sure!!
Rodger Helwig
Another interesting recipe, including one of my favorite vegetables — fennel.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much, my friend 🙂
TasteFood
Love this recipe - I wish I had a bowl of it right now. Congratulations on the pedometer!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks so much, Lynda!
kale
i really, really wish i came across fennel more than once every year and a half!! it's such a unique veg. but i am happy to eat vicariously through your pics!
Norma Chang
I just cannot seem to acquire the taste for raw fennel, may be it was not sliced thin enough. will try again next time I get my hand on a nice fennel.
mjskit
What a great prize! I'm sure you'll have fun with it. With all that walking and this delicious salad you are definitely going to stay healthy! I love raw fennel salads, bu the husband isn't too crazy about them; however, that has never stopped me from making them for myself. 🙂
Terra
I need to find celery root now! Your salad really does sound delicious, and looks full of flavor:-) Beautiful, Hugs, Terra
Faye
This has become one of my favorite salads and an absolute go-to when entertaining--have had a few non-vegetable eaters request it be made when they are coming over. Thanks