ISSUE #17: Celery Salad with Radishes, Chickpeas and Feta Cheese
A Browne Family Original Recipe
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Fresh salads with summer’s bounty make an ideal pairing for Browne Sauvignon Blanc. The Browne Family loves the versatility this salad offers to please a wide number of guests! Andrew’s loves the Mediterranean influence of the chickpeas and feta! Delicious on its own or nestles up next to piece of grilled chicken or fish and big glass of Browne Sauvignon Blanc.
Ingredients:
• 4-6 large celery stalks, trimmed
• 8-10 small radishes, preferably French Breakfast radishes, trimmed
• Handful of small radish leaves, optional, rinsed, trimmed and very thinly sliced
• 14-oz. can chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 small shallot, minced, or 1 Tbsp. minced red onion
• Kosher salt
• 2 tsp. fennel pollen, optional
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
• 4 oz. feta cheese, broken into small chunks
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
• Fresh ground black pepper
Preparation:
Using a very sharp knife, cut the celery into very thin diagonal slices and put them into a medium bowl. Cut the radishes similarly and add them to the celery, along with the radish leaves, if using. Add the chickpeas and shallot, season with salt and add the fennel pollen, if using. Toss gently with a fork.
Add the lemon juice and olive oil, toss, taste and correct for acid balance, adding more olive oil if the salad tastes too tart. Add the feta cheese and parsley, season with several turns of black pepper, toss, taste and correct for salt. Serve right away, when flavors are at their brightest.
VARIATIONS:
Omit the feta cheese and add 1 to 2 cups freshly picked Dungeness crab meat before dressing the salad.
Omit the feta cheese and add 8 ounces of cooked Oregon baby shrimp.
Use 2 to 3 stalks of celery and 1 medium fennel bulb trimmed and cut into very thin slices.
Pair with our 2017 Sauvignon Blanc—Aromatics of honey and white rose lead to flavors of stone fruit, lime zest and graphite with a touch of gooseberry, and a clean and refreshing finish.
