Seared Chicken and Shaved Celeriac Salad with Apple and Walnut
Celeriac and tart apple cut into fine matchsticks and tossed in a lemon-dijon dressing, with warm sliced seared chicken, toasted walnuts, scallions, and parsley folded through.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Celeriac is an ugly vegetable and I understand why people walk past it. Peel the knobbly outside away and what is left is dense, pale, and faintly of celery, and shaved fine it makes the best cold salad base I know. It does not weep water the way cabbage does, it does not go limp the way lettuce does, and it holds a dressing for hours without collapsing. One root about the size of a grapefruit is enough for four people, and it costs less than almost anything else that fills a bowl this well.
The chicken is what turns a side dish into lunch. Halving the breasts horizontally into thin cutlets is the whole trick, because it doubles the surface that browns and cuts the cooking time to about five minutes a batch. They come off the pan with a real crust and go over the salad while still warm, so the heat softens the dressing slightly and the whole bowl smells of thyme. Sliced across the grain, the pieces stay tender rather than stringy, which is the difference between chicken worth eating cold and chicken you push around.
I make this on Sunday and eat it Monday and Tuesday, which is the honest reason it exists. It is one of the very few salads that improves overnight, because the celeriac keeps softening in the lemon while the apple hangs on to its crispness. Pack the walnuts separately and everything else together and it is a genuinely good thing to carry to work. In late autumn, when celeriac is cheap and the first sharp apples arrive, I make it nearly every week.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, halved horizontally into thin cutlets
- 1 medium celeriac, about 13 oz once peeled, cut into fine matchsticks
- 1 large tart apple such as Granny Smith, cored and cut into fine matchsticks
- 1/2 cup walnut halves, broken into pieces
- 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 3 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, from about 1 large lemon
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tsp for the pan
- 4 scallions, sliced thin on a long diagonal
- 1/3 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, roughly torn
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 3/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Mix the dressing: Whisk the lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl until smooth, then pour in the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a slow stream while whisking. It should turn pale and thick enough to cling to the whisk. Make this first so the celeriac has somewhere to go the moment it is cut.
- Cut the celeriac and apple: Slice the top and bottom off the celeriac, stand it on a flat end, and cut the peel away in strips following the curve. Cut it into thin planks, stack them, and slice into fine matchsticks. Do the same with the apple. Drop both into the dressing as you go and toss, which stops any browning immediately.
- Toast the walnuts: Put the walnut pieces in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast for three to four minutes, shaking the pan every thirty seconds. They are ready when they smell strongly nutty and have darkened a shade. Tip them straight onto a plate, since they will scorch in the residual heat if you leave them in the pan.
- Sear the chicken: Pat the cutlets dry and season with the thyme and a pinch of salt. Wipe the skillet, add the teaspoon of olive oil, and set it over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Sear the cutlets in two loads for about three minutes on the first side, until deeply golden and releasing easily, then two minutes more, to 165°F. Rest them for three minutes.
- Toss and serve: Fold the scallions and most of the parsley into the celeriac and apple and taste for salt and lemon. Slice the rested chicken across the grain into thick strips and lay it over the top while it is still warm. Scatter the walnuts and the remaining parsley across everything and serve straight away.
Variations
- Add a bitter leaf: Fold two handfuls of torn radicchio or watercress through the matchsticks just before serving for a sharper, greener bowl.
- Tarragon in place of thyme: Chopped fresh tarragon in the dressing rather than thyme on the chicken pushes this firmly toward the classic French version.
- Smoked fish: Flaked hot-smoked trout or mackerel in place of the chicken suits the mustard and lemon particularly well and needs no cooking at all.
- Kohlrabi: Shaved kohlrabi can stand in for half the celeriac and brings a sweeter, juicier crunch.
- Toasted pecans: Pecans toast in the same three minutes and are sweeter than walnuts, which softens the mustard a little.
Storage & Leftovers
This keeps three days in a sealed container in the refrigerator and is one of the rare salads that is better on day two. The celeriac goes silkier as it sits in the lemon and the dressing works its way into the chicken. Keep the walnuts in a separate jar at room temperature so they stay crisp.
There is nothing to reheat. Take it out of the refrigerator twenty minutes before you want to eat so the olive oil loosens and the flavors wake up, then add the walnuts and a fresh squeeze of lemon. Straight from the cold it tastes muted.
It does not freeze. Both the celeriac and the apple turn to water after a thaw. If you want to work ahead, cut the celeriac into matchsticks and hold them in the dressing for up to two days before you cook the chicken, which is the part that takes the least time anyway.
Notes & Tips
- Dressing in the bowl first: Cut vegetables go straight into acid and never have a chance to discolor. It also means every matchstick is coated from the moment it lands rather than the ones on top getting everything.
- Peel celeriac with a knife: A vegetable peeler cannot get through the gnarled outside and you will lose half the root fighting it. Flat top and bottom, then cut down the sides in strips.
- Halve the breasts horizontally: Whole chicken breasts take twelve minutes and dry at the edges before the center is safe. Thin cutlets take five and come out with twice the crust.
- Watch the walnuts closely: Three minutes is toasted and four is bitter. Shake the pan constantly and take them out the moment you can smell them from an arm's length away.
- Slice the chicken across the grain: The fibers run lengthwise along a breast. Cutting across them shortens every fiber and is the single thing that keeps the slices tender once they have cooled.
- Taste after the salad has sat: Celeriac absorbs a surprising amount of both salt and acid in ten minutes. What was correct when you mixed it will often want another squeeze of lemon by the time you serve.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Chicken, celeriac, and walnuts make this a full lunch rather than a bowl of vegetables. The chicken carries the protein, the celeriac gives the bulk and the texture that holds everything together, and the walnuts bring the fat that makes a cold plate genuinely satisfying.
- Chicken breast is a close-grained, mild cut with a great deal of protein for its size, and it carries niacin and B6 along with it. Cut thin and seared fast, it keeps enough moisture to be worth eating at room temperature the next day.
- Celeriac is the root of a celery relative, dense and faintly nutty, and it brings fiber, potassium, and vitamin K while staying low in starch for something that fills a bowl this well. Shaved fine and left in acid, it turns silky without ever going soft.
- Walnuts toasted for three minutes go from waxy to fragrant, and they are the one common nut that carries a meaningful amount of alpha-linolenic acid, a plant form of omega-3 fat. Their slight bitterness is also what keeps the apple from making this too sweet.
- Tart apple, dijon mustard, and a great deal of lemon are what give this its lift. The mustard holds the dressing together and brings heat, the lemon keeps everything pale and sharp, and the apple supplies a cold sweetness that arrives a beat after the acid does.
- As you eat, pay attention to how the celeriac has gone silky while the apple has stayed crisp, and let a lunch you can chew slowly be a reason to stop working for twenty minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a food processor for the matchsticks?
Yes, and I often do. The julienne disc gives you a whole root in about fifteen seconds. A mandoline with the julienne blade works too. By hand it takes six or seven minutes, which is not unreasonable, and the pieces are slightly more irregular in a way I actually prefer.
Will the celeriac and apple turn brown?
Only if you let them sit exposed. Both oxidize quickly once cut, which is why the dressing goes in the bowl first and everything falls straight into it. Toss every minute or so while you work and you will have no discoloration at all.
What does celeriac taste like?
Like the heart of a celery stalk, but rounder and nuttier, with none of the stringiness. Cut fine and dressed, it is closer to a firm apple in texture than to any root vegetable, which is why the two work so well in the same bowl.
Can I use rotisserie chicken?
Certainly, and it makes this a fifteen minute recipe. Pull the meat into large pieces rather than shredding it, and warm it for a moment in the skillet so it goes onto the salad warm. You will lose the crust, which is a real loss but not a fatal one.