Cucumber, Apricot & Celery Salad

The foodie world seems to be in love with Six Seasons cookbook that was released last year but my first (& second & third) impression of it is that it is just ok. If you've been a fan of Ottolenghi books or even Deborah Madison's books in the past, then you already know the interesting ways vegetables can be prepared. I looked through the entire book a few times and only found a few recipes that sounded interesting to me. I think the book would be more useful for someone who is new to vegetables and is iffy about them. I also thought the serving sizes were HUGE and recipes unnecessarily rich requiring a lot of rich and heavy ingredients and plenty of nuts and seeds. Those are good things to add to vegetables to make them even tastier but I think the author takes it a little too far.
Oh well, from the spur of the moment purchasing I did of all the James Beard Award winer cookbooks of last year, I found one gem at least, Cook Beautiful (I should mention I'm also not a huge fan of Bravetart, I think that book is for people who grew up in America in the late 70s and 80s and are nostalgic for candy bars and treats from that time period).
Anyway, this recipe was one of the few from Six Seasons that sounded interesting to me with it's combination of celery and apricots in a cucumber salad. The addition of pistachios was a nice touch given that apricots and pistachios pair really well. It was a good simple salad that we had with grilled Za'atar chicken (which has been made 3 times here now, which is almost unheard of!).

Recipe adapted from Six Seasons, Joshua McFadden
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs Persian cucumbers, halved and thinly sliced on the diagonal
6 celery spears, leaves coarsely chopped and stalks thinly sliced and soaked in ice water for 10 minutes and drained well
12 oz fresh apricot, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch mint, leaves picked and coarsely chopped
60 gm roasted pistachios, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
4-5 tbsp white wine vinegar
sea salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

Procedure: 
Toss cucumbers, celery, celery leaves, apricots and mint in a large bowl. Toss with pistachios, olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt & pepper to taste on each serving just before serving.