Parmesan Celery Salad Recipe
A breezy summer-spirited lunch salad made with celery, beans, and Parmesan. And a glance at my attempt at organizing some of my pictures into albums.
I worked on two things over the weekend: organizing my photos into scrapbooks, and making this Parmesan Celery Salad. For years, I've had piles of photos accumulating in drawers, on desks, and in boxes. I suspect it is going to be a long process wrangling them into some sort of order, but at least I now have a plan. The salad? It's crisp and vibrant from the celery and jolt of lemon, creamy from the warm cannelloni beans dusted with wispy threads of grated Parmesan. It hits the warm beans and melts instantly. Prepping the ingredients involves a bit of slicing and toasting, but beyond that, it all comes together in no time.
First, a peek at the albums. I came across these bound, cloth-wrapped photo albums at a local art supply store, and it was the motivation I needed to start this project. I suspect a number of you will ask, so here's the scoop. The albums are Kolo. I like the Hudson 3, which holds 300 photos in a narrow but chunky book format. And, the color you see in the photo down below is ivory. They're nice, but not over-the-top precious, if you know what I mean.
I started by organizing my favorite instant/peel-apart film shots into two of the albums. More than anything, I'm relieved they now live somewhere with a bit of protection. A lot of them were in a stack in my desk drawer floating around alongside recipe clippings, receipts, and long-forgotten to-do lists. Now, the real project is going to be tackling my film archives. I must have fifteen years of slide film I've never properly scanned or printed. Exciting and paralyzing at the same time!.....
Here's the celery salad recipe. It couldn't be quicker. And, more than anything, it's a breezy summer-spirited lunch option. The last thing I'll say, and I'll note it down below, this is the sort of thing that is particularly great when you cook your own beans - either from dried, or from fresh shell beans you might come across at the market this time of year.
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Parmesan Celery Salad Recipe
Set aside any celery leaves you might come across while prepping this salad. I always try to buy bunches of celery that are leaf-heavy on top. That said, don't despair if no leaves are visible when you're choosing cellar, there are usually some hiding out atop stalks deeper in the bundle. And for a salad hinged on so few ingredients, my recommendation would be to cook your own beans. Not essential, but well worth the effort.
8 large celery stalks, stripped of strings
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for topping
1 1/2 cups / 10 oz / 285 cooked cannellini or garbanzo beans, heated
3 tablespoons currants (or golden raisins)
1/2 cup / 1 1/2 oz / 40 g sliced almonds, deeply toasted
sea salt or homemade celery salt
freshly chopped herbs (or herb flowers), or reserved celery leaves
Slice the celery stalks quite thinly - 1/8-inch or so. Then, in a small bowl, make a paste with the olive oil, lemon juice, and Parmesan. Set aside. In a large bowl toss the heated beans with the olive-Parmesan mixture. When well combined, add the celery, currants, and most of the almonds. Toss once more. Taste and add a bit of salt if needed. Serve in a bowl or platter topped with herb flowers and/or celery leaves.
Serves 4-6.
Prep time: 10 minutes - Cook time: 5 minutes
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Comments
Fresh beans at the market, oh I wish!
This salad looks gorgeous! I love, love, LOVE fresh celery, and the combination of lemon and parmesan and beans really takes this dish over the top for me. What a lovely summer lunch this would make!
This looks so delicous. Love the different colours! You always seem to come up with amazing and inspiring recipes, Heidi. Thank you for sharing.
This salad is fabulous. I followed your recipie to a “T” with one addition. I added one clove of minced garlic to the olive oil before adding it to the warmed beans. Heavenly!
I love celery and the idea of combining all the rest of the ingredients. I definately want to make it. Thank you
That salad looks divine! I will be giving that a go- thanks for the recipe. I think I will be visiting back here often.
Celery is such a fabulous and underloved vegetable, doomed to go soft in countless crisper drawers across America. I’ve especially been loving the heirloom varieties available at the farmer’s market–really flavorful and particularly leaf-heavy. Thanks for another great recipe!
I love what you do with celery. I remember your celery salt recipe as well. One of my favorite things to eat are celery leaves and I love that you’ve included them in both recipes. Yay celery!
Love this salad.
My mouth is literally watering. I have been eating celery in as many ways as possible (juiced, ants on a log, solo, in salads, in soups, etc). Can’t wait to try this and now I have my heart set on making it from dried beans. It would be pretty with nasturtium flowers in it!
I love your posts–the recipes and the little peeks at your life. Organizing photos…I so need to do that too!
mmm, it sounds so light and simple.
I’m sad I just finished working through an entire pot of white beans I cooked on impulse last week… would have been perfect!
What a beautiful salad. I’d have never thought to incorporate celery as a main ingredient in a salad, but this looks delicious and of course pretty. Do fresh shell beans cook much faster than dry beans?
HS: They do Beth! And no soaking necessary.
What type of herbs would be most complimentary in this salad?
HS: Hi Sarah, I think it would be hard to go wrong with herbs like basil, chives, thyme….not entirely sure about a bit of rosemary – might be good?
First look at the tempting picture of the salad compelled me to try it and simply loved it. Actually my mom loved it more than I did. This salad is very nutritious I would advice every one to check it out .Thumps up
This is an excellent summery recipe. Awesome pics.
Oh I’m jealous of those albums. I’m guilty of letting mine go for too long. I have about a years worth of photos that need some a home. Must get on that. I don’t eat very much celery, but as always, you take a simple ingredient and transform it into something spectacular…then make me wonder why I don’t eat more of that simple ingredient…
I made the celery salad last night. We had it with small sandwiches on the side. It was delicious! Thanks!
I love your salad recipes but many of them require nuts to complete and I can’t eat nuts. Is there anything else that will satisfy that roundness that nuts give?
This is my kind of salad, and I love the contrasting textures and flavors. Thanks!
I’m not a huge fan of celery unless it’s covered in peanut butter, but this looks delicious!
I’ve got the worst crooked neck and sore blurry eyes from the many hours I’ve spent sorting out my photos on the computer over the past few days. I much prefer sorting actual real photos and there’s nothing better than being able to flick through photo albums 🙂 Good luck with the rest of your tidy-up.
I love this salad… Will save it to make it to take to work!
I’m so glad you included the garbanzo bean option — I don’t like white beans at all. The rest sounds wonderful: crunchy, cheese-flavored, a little sweet, a little savory. This would be good with fennel in season as well as celery.
I LOVE celery. Love it. Can’t wait to make this salad.
This recipe and my CSA-box celery were a match made in heaven! I cannot stop eating it. Amazing with loads of parsley!
My mum and I have developed quite the celery addiction–not to mention our undying love for white beans. Needless to say, this salad is perfectly suited to our tastes.
“Exciting and paralyzing at the same time”… ha – I know that feeling all too well! This sounds so refreshing. Perfectly summer. Thanks so much!
This salad is so delicious. I was inspired to make due to an abundance of celery in my garden but believe me – you don’t need an excuse – it’s a subtle and artful dish.
Can grapes be substituted for raisins?
Has anyone tried this with room temperature beans rather than warm? Working on a dinner party menu and looking to minimize steps!
HS: You could – the warm beans serve to get the cheese a bit melty.
What a great summer salad dish. Thanks!
I love this salad. I love the crispness of celery and it marries so well with just about any flavor. Can’t wait to try it!
Heidi this looks amazing! I am not sure what herb flowers would be right, which one did you use?
I’m a fan of celery and have successfully grown it this season! The baby celery is so tender and delicious. I think it would be lovely in your salad.
This sounds so refreshing! What a beautiful list of healthy ingredients. Will plan to make this weekend, perfect for 108 temperatures.
I love the idea of a celery salad! Can’t wait to try this. Thanks, Heidi!
That looks incredible!! It looks so flavorful and delcious!
Thanks for the cheese free version.
The poor dairy cows suffer more than most other animals so dairy free options are great. Love Heidi’s recipes but would like more dairy free versions.
HS: Thanks Tinks – I think if I were going to make this dairy-free, I’d opt for a different dressing – maybe an herby no-cheese pesto or something. Here’s a list of ~150 dairy-free (or easily adapted) recipes on my site. Enjoy!
How long will the salad last in the fridge? I am considering making it for a Food Swap. and people will want to eat it the next day or so….
What a lovely combination. I have been experimenting with similar combinations in the past few weeks, using crisp lettuces and cucumber where you have inserted celery. I love the crunchy and the lemon, along with some parm. Refreshing dish for a very hot summer. Will try the celery and the ceci beans now. Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks Dawn for the cashew idea. So many of us cannot tolerate dairy and it seems to be a constant ingredient is so many recipes [just add cheese that will fix everything].
Thanks Dawn for the cashew idea. So many of us cannot tolerate dairy and it seems to be a constant ingredient is so many recipes [just add cheese that will fix everything].
I want to make this salad and get those photo books! On the Kolo site it doesn’t say that the paper is archival–I had to remove our childhood photos from their sixties/seventies albums to save them. Is that a concern?
Refreshing salad! Perfect, I think, with San Pellegrino and lemon 🙂
Good luck on your projects
Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
Ah, thank you for a celery recipe! With some lovely plants thriving in the garden right now I am most appreciative of ways to use it that are not soup, egg salad and tuna salad!
Oooh, I may have to try this. I have a tendency to ignore celery for the most part (outside of its place in my mire poix, of course), but this might make me look at it differently. The flavor combo seems like it would be lovely, and it’s perfect for the sweltering heat we’re facing this week!
Like so many others who have commented, I skipped the cheese and substituted ingredients with what I had on hand. Instead of beans, I used left over rotisserie chicken. Instead of almonds and currants, I used chopped macadamias and a tablespoon of locally made cranberry relish. To add an additional fruity note, I used blood orange-infused olive oil. Very tasty!
I don’t like celery as much but the idea of this salad is tempting me to give this green stalk yet another attempt!
This salad looks delicious, but I cannot eat raw celery. I am one of the few people that celery numbs my mouth and throat. What other veggie can you recommend to make with the beans, carrots perhaps?
I don’t even like celery and this salad has my mouth watering! I think it’s the beans/parmesan combination…gets me every time. 🙂
How do you do it? You wave your wand and remind me of neglected ingredients in my kitchen. Like celery – crunchy sweet celery. I’m loving the fresh shelling beans from our farmers market (borlotti mostly). I think they’d be delicious in this. + lovely albums.
Ohhhh I love this recipe! Definitely on my to be tried list 😉
Ah! I so need to be reminded of lovely, crunchy celery. I get so distracted by beets, corn and tomatoes at this time of year that I sometimes forget to use this cruciferous wonder. I’m going to make it!
As a fairly recent convert to raw celery and a lover of all things beany, I really look forward to making this creamy-crunchy salad; it’s just the kind of thing I like for lunch. And regarding pictures: My mom is currently in the process of scanning *40 years* worth of slides. It’s a mammoth undertaking, but well worth it!
Ooooh yum! This one’s on the “to make” list for sure. My sig. other is a huge celery fan and a huge parmesan fan, separately. He’ll freak out when he sees his two favorites together in one dish.
The currants and almonds are gorgeous mix-ins here. Beautiful photos, as always
Beautiful, Heidi!!
This salad looks amazing, will definitely make it this week.
Question I’ve been wanting to ask forever and that perhaps you’ve addressed before — what material is your countertop? Marble? If so do you know the name? Always love your kitchen pics with the white countertops and subway tile backsplash!
HS: Thanks Liz! It is marble, although I’m not sure of the details beyond that. It’s white with minimal grey markings.
Love the contrast between crunchy and creamy. Perfect for summer. Thanks for sharing!
I am absolutely craving this right now…(well, maybe not for breakfast)…I can just taste the crunchy, salty, cold, sweetness, all of it! It’s perfect!
Oh this sounds so good. I don’t tolerate dairy so I will need to make a cheese substitution. I am thinking for grinding raw cashews with salt and nutritional yeast. I think that will be great!
This sounds so fabulous! A must try 🙂
The salad sounds delicious! Picture sorting can be such fun!
Soo lovely!
Soo lovely!
I also like to add arugula and replace almonds with walnuts in this salad. It’s so good!
I like to add arugula to this salad and use walnuts instead of almonds.
It’s such a great dish for the hot summer months!
HS: Great call Mike – I did a version with celery, walnuts, citrus segments, and Parmesan in Super Natural Cooking. Still a favorite.
The salad sounds absolutely delicious! And I can really relate to the good feeling one gets from getting organised – I need to do the same!
i havce SUCH a celery obsession – i could, legitimately, eat it all day long. And now I have this salad to continue my celery-spree!
Excellent summer recipe.
Brava for doing a salad of celery. It is oft overlooked as a viable main star ingredient and gets short shrift. This combination reminds me of a delightful stew of white beans by Melissa Clark where the hit of celery leaves really makes the beans dance. That flavor combination is stellar.
Stripping the strings could most likely be done with a veggie peeler–my question is why? Love celery, love seeing it as a star performer. Thanks!
Great recipe because I often find myself buying celery and then have ALL this celery left over and after my 5 year old says no more ants on a log – it’s nice to have options 🙂
This might sound like a silly question, but how do you strip celery of it’s strings? Is there a trick to it?
HS: Hi Leah, I take an individual stalk, break it as close to the base as possible. Snap and pull the segment (and all the attached strings) the length of the stalk. I do that a few times per stalk. I never bother with a peeler.
I’ve never thought to feature celery as the main ingredient in a salad! The combination with parmesan, nuts, and fruit almost reminds me of a Waldorf salad. Love it!
You come up with the best recipes! I’m looking forward to trying this one.
I love the photo of the kolo albums against the warm white mantle. It makes me want to paint my living room white.
Celery was an acquired taste for me, but now I am making up for lost time. This not only looks delicious, but totally gorgeous. And, as a side note, I am in love your fireplace – so dreamy!
YUM! this salad looks delicious. I love the addition of beans and currants to balance the flavors from sweet and savory.
Organizing photos is on my “To Do” list as well, but I do not see myself getting around to it anytime soon. 🙂
I’ve been making this salad, but with pumpkin seeds and without the beans, all summer; I look forward to trying this variation. And I now have quite a stash of celery leaves that I’ve been saving to try your celery salt recipe–I think it’s time!
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