Celeriac, Orange and Date Salad

OK, so this is basically part two of the previous post... Or perhaps a backwards part one...

So, the story goes, that I had to make a dinner for my host mum's colleuge.

An impressive dinner for an important colleuge.

A dinner that I forgot about until the night before, when I'd already been shopping and hadn't bought anything that grand or useful for the above motives.

In short- BUGGER!

A nice little starter salad was necessary to accompany the Shallot and Rosemary-Onion Jam Tarte Tatin, that I'd decided on (check the last post for the recipe, because it was a defininate winner). Something refreshing and summer-y to go with the full-on flavour of the tarte and to cool us down in this hot weather we've been having in France.

I made this little number up out of the top of my head, because, like always, I couldn't find what I wanted in the supermarket (I admit, I did manage a small trip to the small local one this morning just for the bare necessities) and I've been having a real obsessoin with celeriac at the moment ever since my discovery of celeraic remoulade, ie. YUM.

So here it goes, my jazzy little sald number for a summers night.

Celeriac, Orange and Date Salad

Ingredients-

2 large oranges

1/4 cup of pine nuts

1 small, or 1/2 of a large celeriac (otherwise called celery root)

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

100g of pitted dates

1/8 cup of olive oil

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

pepper and salt to season

Method-

In a small bowl mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, and white wine vinegar. Season with pepper and salt.

Roast the pine nuts in the oven at 180°C for 5 or so minutes util they are lightly golden in colour.

Grab the celeriac and cut off the skin, then cut into halves or quarters, and thinly slice strips.

Peel the oranges then cut into thin wedges, and remove any membrane with a paring knife.

Tear the dates into halves or small chunks with your fingers.

Place everything in a salad bowl except the pine nuts, and give it a good toss. Note that this is a salad you can make in advance because the flavours only get better when left.

Serve sprinkled with pine nuts (and my tarte if your feeling extra copycat-tish)