Celery and Pickled Walnut Salad

This makes a nice refreshing starter or side salad, or you could serve it with a cheese course. For a more substantial starter, crumble in some blue cheese or goat’s cheese. I never quite seem to get the timing right to capture walnuts at their perfect soft shell stage for pickling, so I’ve usually had to rely on shop-bought ones. Luckily Jason Lowe had pickled a few jars last autumn, which inspired me to concoct this simple salad while we were photographing the book.