Celery and blueberry salad with ranch dressing

Servings:

This salad goes all in on North American flavours, with a blue cheese ranch, loosened with buttermilk, and mapled pecans that balance out the funky creamy saltiness of the dressing perfectly. If you’re a blue cheese lover, go for a stronger blue cheese, like a stilton; for milder hints of blue, a Roquefort or even something like a Blue Castello will do it. I like having garlic powder in my salad dressing arsenal, especially the creamy ones, because it cuts through anything too rich with just the right kind of piquancy. My preference is the organic garlic powder with a green lid, which you’ll find in health food shops. Berries – particularly blueberries, are worth keeping in mind for adding pops of acidity, sweetness and colour into salads, sweet and savoury! Blueberries are always best served chilled, so keep yours in the fridge until just ready to serve.

Instructions

Finely shave fennel, celery stalks, celery heart and onion with a mandolin, keeping with the shape of the fennel and the onion, and shaving the celery on the bias. Pop into a salad spinner with the celery leaves, fennel fronds, parsley and plenty of cold water with a splash of apple cider vinegar and put it into the fridge while you make the dressing and maple the pecans.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced). Line a small baking tray with baking paper.
To make the salted-maple pecans, toss pecans together with the maple syrup and a pinch of salt flakes and spread onto the baking tray. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes, keeping an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn. Take out and set aside to cool and crisp up.
To make the dressing, put all of the ingredients except the chives into a small blender and blitz until smooth. Fold in the chives and set aside.
Just before serving, halve the blueberries horizontally to reveal the tiny star inside.
Drain and spin the veg. To make it super dry and dressing- ready, scatter the veg across a clean tea towel (dish towel), roll it up and pat like you’re drying off a toddler at the beach.
Tumble the veg and blueberries together into a shallow serving bowl. Drizzle with the dressing (if you’ve got extra, leave it nearby in a jug), scatter with salted-maple pecans and extra chives, and finish with a flourish of extra virgin olive oil and a final sprinkle of salt flakes and freshly cracked pepper.