Shaved Celery Salad with Pimiento Buttermilk Dressing, from Issue #8 of The Department of Salad.
Good news: whereas our usual Food for Thought items require clicking a dread affiliate link to purchase, today’s is absolutely free. Emily Nunn is a wonderful food writer who says of herself, “I live in a barn in rural NC dairy farmland and have dedicated my remaining years on this planet to salad.” How she will support herself at this remains to be seen, but for the present we can reap her bounty for free by subscribing to the Department of Salad newsletter. [UPDATE: the publisher has announced she will be charging a small fee, like $6-7 a month, so check out a few issues now and see if it’s something you want to pay for.]
Each issue of this approximately monthly newsletter (she says weekly, and maybe it will be soon[UPDATE–last issues have indeed come weekly]) features a discussion with a chef or contributor with recipes from that guest, followed by Nunn’s own related recipes—virtually all of them salads. It started last March and is currently at issue #11, plus this bonus recap that lists all the issues and recipes so far. (which makes it a good place to start your own explorations.)
Our favorite issue so far has to be #8, which as you might expect has a Southern theme. Atlanta Constitution food columnist Chadwick Boyd shares his Shaved Celery Salad with Pimiento Buttermilk Dressing and then Emily Nunn is doubly inspired and shares celery salad recipes AND her own pimento cheese recipe.
If you feel guilty about getting all this goodness for free, Emily suggests you make a donation to No Kid Hungry. Then follow this link to start your own subscription, and check the website to catch up on past issues.
