Hey. Listen. I know that winter is usually synonymous with Christmas cookies. Or braised meats. Perhaps mac and cheese. You know, comfort food. But I’m here to tell you: the best thing about winter is the produce. Specifically, the citrus. While lemonade and creamsicles have positioned citrus as a summer indulgence, these fruits are at their peak during the winter months. (Plus, vitamin C keeps colds away, right???) If you’ve never dug into a satsuma in January, you are missing out on one of life’s greatest pleasures.

And the thing is—while we largely think of winter as a dead zone for produce, many things grow from November to March. A forecast of freezing temperatures and snow doesn’t mean you need to forsake fruits and vegetables, and this citrus-bomb of a zesty, herby salad is all the proof you need. Seriously, this may be the only cure I know for seasonal depression—next to hopping a plane to Mexico.

Citrus! Herbs! Celery!

At the same time citrus is in season, so is celery—and the two go splendidly together. The bite of the citrus, the crunch of celery—a match made in heaven. Toss them with an equally punchy vinaigrette and some added fat in the form of crunchy nuts, and you’ve got yourself a near-perfect plate. The key is this: don’t be afraid to lean into the acid here. We’ve provided you with an acid-forward vinaigrette; don’t be scared of it. It mixes so well with the citrus juice to soften the celery ever-so-slightly. If you find your salad too punchy, just toss with extra olive oil to even it out.

Time: 15 minutes
Active Time: 15 minutes
Serves: This is the perfect amount to serve as a side dish for 6–8 people. You can easily cut the ingredient amounts in half for 2-4 people. The best part is: this salad is still good the next day.
Drink: Big acid meals need high-acid wines. We’d suggest a Picpoul from France or Assyrtiko from Greece.

INGREDIENTS

1 head of celery, the leafiest you can find

6 assorted pieces of citrus, pererably a mix of grapefruit, blood orange, and satsuma/other orange type

4 medium shallots, thinly sliced

1 bunch of dill, stems removed and fronds chopped

2/3 cup of whole, raw almonds

1 T grainy dijon mustard

4 T apple cider vinegar

1 T honey

5 T olive oil

Tender herbs such as parsley, cilanto, mint, or chives, totally optional, for serving.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F

2. Make your vin
Mix together mustard, vinegar, and honey. Then, slowly stream in the olive oil while constantly stirring to emulsify. Then, add dill and shallots. The dressing will be relatively thick, and that’s exactly how it should be. If you have larger shallots and a larger bunch of dill and there’s practically no liquid left, you can thin out the dressing with a little bit of water.

Season with salt and pepper. Let the dressing sit until it’s time to serve, giving the shallots time to soften.

3. Roast your almonds
Dry roast your almonds on a sheet pan in your 350-degree oven for 10–15 minutes. Toss the nuts at five minutes, check again at ten minutes, and then check every minute after that until they are done. Nuts can go from toasted to burnt very quickly after 10 minutes. Once they are roasted and cooled slightly, roughly chop them.

3. Cut your celery
While you toast your nuts, cut your produce.

Remove the celery leaves, set aside to be used in the final salad. Then cut your celery.

My favorite way to cut celery is to place the stalk on its side—it will create a little C shape from the front. Then, slice on the diagonal in varying sizes. You get this great little celery shape that’s totally aesthetic, but I dig it. You can also feel free to chop your celery however you damn well please! It’s your life.

4. Cut citrus
Cutting citrus can be messy business. There are lots of ways to do it, but here’s what I find easiest: using my sharpest serrated blade, I slice the citrus into wheels; then, lay the wheels down flat and cut off the rind. At that point, cut the fruit into various sizes. You can feel free to leave the full wheels of smaller fruit—satsuma, clementine, blood orange—whole and cut the larger fruit—grapefruit, navel oranges—into smaller chunks.

5. Plate it up and dig in
Start with your celery—layer it over a large serving plate. Mix the celery leaves with the cut-up stalks. Then, layer citrus on top, making sure to spread out the types of citrus evenly. Next, scatter your chopped almonds. Finally, spoon the dressing over the entire thing. Feel free to top with extra tender herbs, if you’d like. Devour.

Um, excuse me?

I don’t like celery!
Neither does Karen! You’ve got two options here: a) don’t make this recipe! b) try it and see! The acid in the dressing here softens the celery sightly, making it a lovely based for salad. However, if you reeeeaallllly want to make this recipe and not use celery, you could sub it with fennel, endive, arugula, escarole, or kale.

I bet this would be really good with cheese.
Yeah! It would be and you should add it if you want. While this recipe doesn’t and is just as good without, it’s also amazing with a hard, salty cheese shaved and layered atop.

Can I make this in advance?
If you need to get this done early, try making every piece but keeping them separate until serving time. This salad will still be good after a day in the fridge, but it’s best freshly dressed.

I have leftover dressing!
Depending on the size of your various produce, you may have some extra dressing. The good news is: it should keep in the fridge for a week or more. I’ve used leftover dressing to top various roasted and grilled meats, tossed it with grains and chickpeas for a hearty salad, spooned it over fresh cheese and spread it all over crusty bread. A little extra dill dressing is not a bad thing.

Okay. I want more salads. My body is ready.
We’ve been waiting for you.