Celery Salad with Dates, Chickpeas & Parmesan
YKGrub · Sept 2026 · Serves 4, scaled to 12 · No-cook · loveandlemons.com
Ingredients — serves 4
- 8 large celery stalks with leaves — stalks sliced on the bias, leaves chopped
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- 1½ cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 4 soft Medjool dates, pitted and diced
- 1 small apple, cored and thinly sliced
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup toasted almonds, ¼ cup shaved Parmesan, ¼ cup parsley
Lemon vinaigrette
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp maple syrup — the source says honey or maple; maple keeps it baby-safe
- 1½ tsp Dijon, 1 small garlic clove grated
- ¼ tsp sea salt, black pepper
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Scaled for 12
2 bunches celery (~20 stalks) · 1¼ cups red onion · 2 cans chickpeas · 10 dates · 3 apples · ½ cup each almonds, Parmesan, parsley. Dressing ×2.5: ⅔ cup lemon juice, 5 tsp maple, 4 tsp Dijon, 2 cloves, ¾ cup olive oil.
Method
1. Dressing
Whisk lemon, maple, Dijon, garlic, salt and pepper, then drizzle in the oil while whisking. Or shake it all in a jar.
2. Toss and wait
Celery, onion, chickpeas, dates, apple and salt in a big bowl. Half the dressing, toss, then 20 minutes in the fridge.
The 20-minute rest is the recipe. It softens the onion and lets the celery take the dressing. Skip it and it tastes like chopped celery.
3. Finish
Toss again, then almonds, Parmesan and parsley. More dressing to taste.
Notes
- Firm dates: soak in warm water 5–10 min first
- Make-ahead: everything but the apple can be dressed and left overnight. Slice the apple in the morning
- Baby portion: plain chickpeas and a little soft date before the salt and dressing. No almonds
Source: loveandlemons.com — https://www.loveandlemons.com/celery-salad/