Jim Dixon wrote about food for WW for more than 20 years, but these days most of his time is spent at his olive oil-focused specialty food business Wellspent Market. Jim’s always loved to eat, and he encourages his customers to cook by sending them recipes every week through his newsletter. We’re happy to have him back creating some special dishes just for WW readers.

For me, the sign of a good produce section is a tray of loose celery stalks so I don’t have to buy a whole bunch. And it’s even better when I find the inner stalks—lighter in color, tender, and, most importantly, topped with bright leaves. While I love to use chopped celery, along with chopped onion and carrot, as part of the aromatic flavor base for everything from soup to meatballs, the leaves are my favorite part. They’re especially good in tuna salad, but I mostly add them to composed salads like this one.

It also features celeriac, aka celery root and one of my favorite vegetables. The gnarly, ball-shaped celeriac can be intimidating to cooks who’ve never dealt with one, but there are some prep guidelines and a link to a video of me peeling one in last month’s recipe for sformato.

I usually grate it and the carrots for this salad with a box grater, but a food processor with a grating disc works just as well. And for the best flavor, use salt-packed capers (we sell the world’s best capers from the tiny Italian island of Pantelleria at Wellspent). When the immature flower buds of the caper plant are packed in brine, they lose much of their flavor. While the salt-packed capers require a short soak in cold water, they taste much better. They’re salty, so always taste whatever you’re using them in before adding any more salt.

Celeriac, Carrot, and Celery Leaf Salad With Capers

1 medium celeriac, about 2 pounds

2 medium carrots

2-3 tablespoons celery leaf, chopped

1/4 cup salt-packed capers, soaked and drained

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

Salt to taste

Grate the celeriac and carrots using the large holes of box grater (or use the grating disc of a food processor). Combine with the rest of the ingredients and, if you have the time, let it rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.