Celery Salad With Dates, Almonds and Parmigiano

Josh McFadden's new book Six Seasons is simply spectacular.  I have made six things out of it (sheer coincidence), and when I could not renew it from the library, I knew that I could not wait for my turn to come around again and had to buy it.  This salad is one of many that I will be posting in the weeks ahead.

• 8 celery stalks (leaves separated and reserved), tough fibers peeled off, sliced on an angle into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
• 4 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped toasted almonds (see below)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon dried chile flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved into shards with a vegetable peeler
• Extra-virgin olive oil

1. Put the celery in a bowl of ice water and soak for about 20 minutes to heighten the crispness. Drain and pat dry, then pile into a medium bowl.
2. Add the celery leaves, dates, almonds, lemon juice, and chile flakes and toss together. Season generously with salt and black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add the Parmigiano and 1/4 cup olive oil and toss gently. Taste again and adjust the seasoning so you have a lovely salty, tart, sweet balance.

Serve cool.

You can toast nuts and seeds a number of ways — in the oven, in a dry skillet, with high heat or low heat (or brined and roasted) — but your goal is to go from raw, bland, and soft to fragrant and crunchy. The color should be just a few shades darker than the raw nut or seed and should be even, not simply dark around the edges.
Quantity is up to you

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spread the nuts on a pan in a single layer. For a small quantity, a pie plate is good; for more, use a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Bake until you smell the nuttiness and the color is deepening slightly, 6 to 8 minutes for most whole nuts.
4. When the nuts are done, transfer them to a plate so they don’t keep cooking on the hot baking pan.

Determining doneness can be tricky because the final texture won’t develop until they’re cool, so at this stage, you’re mostly concerned with color and flavor. To be safe, take them from the oven, let cool, taste one, and if not done enough, pop them back into the oven.