Green grape, celery and walnut salad

This is a crunchy and crisp summer salad. The ingredients balance to give a little sweetness with some bitter and refreshing flavours, all rounded out with a nice amount of nuttiness.

Green grape, celery and walnut salad Credit: Benito Martin

• serves

  2-4

• prep

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 40 ml red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp soft brown sugar
• 40 ml hazelnut oil
• 40 ml delicate extra virgin olive oil
• squeeze of lemon juice
• 2 cups picked watercress
• 2 large sticks celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 1 medium eschalot, thinly sliced
• 1 very full cup halved green grapes
• 45 g (¼ cup) walnuts, toasted
• 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves

Instructions

Place the vinegar in a small mixing bowl and whisk in the sugar to dissolve. Whisk in the oils along with some salt and pepper. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and check for seasoning. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, place the watercress, celery, eschalot, grapes and walnuts. Add the dressing and mix to combine, then have a little taste. You want it to taste slightly sharp to balance out the moments when you eat a sweet grape.

Once you are happy, roughly tear in the parsley, give it a final brief mix and place on a large platter to serve.

Cook’s tips

• Feel free to use any other nut oil of your choosing.

• If you have any pretty inner pale celery leaves, add them to the salad as well along with the parsley.

Photography by Benito Martin. Food styling by O Tama Carey. Prop styling by Lynsey Fryers. Food preparation by Nick Banbury.

This recipe is part of The seasonal cook: Grape column. View previous The seasonal cook columns and recipes.

Always on the hunt for the next vegetable to pickle, follow O Tama Carey on Instagram.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.