Apple Walnut ‘Waldorf’ Salad
Dame Nancy Scanlon
The Apple Walnut Salad is often called a ‘Waldorf’ salad, created in 1896 in the Waldorf Hotel kitchen in New York City. Grapes are sometimes included as an additional ingredient and an added texture.
Cool and crunchy, this is a summer salad in my family kitchen. Apples that offer crunchy, crisp textures and flavors from sweet to sour, with red and pinkish skins, create a tasting, texture surprise. The apple varieties included in this salad picture are: Cosmic Crisp…Pink Lady…Fuji…and Chile Chill.
Cooking notes:
This recipe leaves the skin on the apple pieces. As apples tend to turn brown quickly when sliced, sprinkle the slices with fresh lemon juice as each apple is cutup. In addition to keeping the apple from turning brown, the lemon juice will add a sharp clean taste. Prepare the celery and walnut pieces before cutting up the apples. Mix celery, walnuts and apples together and add a mayonnaise dressing. Serve or refrigerate.
Ingredients
4 medium to large red and pinkish skinned crisp apples
480 ml of chopped celery
240 ml of chopped walnut pieces
175 ml of prepared mayonnaise
Lemon juice squeezed from 1 lemon
Method
1. Celery sticks: Using crisp celery sticks, cut each stick in half lengthwise. Then, cuttingacross the s ticks, cut into small bite size pieces.
2. Walnut pieces: Using either walnut halves or smaller pieces, break or cut the walnuts into chewable sized pieces.
3.Apples: leaving the skin on the apples, slice them in half and then quarters. Cut out the core of each apple. Cut the apple quarters in half again and then cut the crescent shaped slices into smaller pieces. As each apple is cut up, sprinkle with fresh lemon juice.
4. Place thee apple slices in a large bowl and add the 175 ml of mayonnaise. With a soft spatula, turn these ingredients over until the apples and celery are lightly coated with mayonnaise.
5. Add the walnut pieces, turning over again until lightly coated with mayonnaise.
6. To serve, line a large dish with lettuce leaves and spoon the salad mixture into the centre of the dish.
7. This salad should be served cold or at room temperature. Refrigerate after preparing unless serving immediately.
