This is a great go-to salad when you’re hosting an intimate dinner party. It is a sweet and robust salad that has the right harmony of fruit and nuts. It is a bit of work to make and it won’t last too long without wilting, but there usually are no left overs so who cares. Created in 1893 by Chef Oscar Tschirky, who was working at the maître d’hôtel of the Waldorf Astoria. Cole Porter made the salad popular when in 1934 he mentioned the Waldorf Salad in his hit song, “You’re the Top”. So now you have two interesting things to tell your dinner guest as they enjoy your salad.
Ingredients
- 1 head Boston lettuce – or a butter or bib lettuce, or romaine if you’re in a bind
- 0.5 cup Greek yogurt – unflavored is best
- 2 Apples – skin on, I like Fuji, but it’s dealer’s choice
- 2 Celery ribs – with leaves – chopped
- 0.5 cup Walnuts – halved
- 0.25 cup grapes – halved
- 2 TBL Parsley – flat leaf – minced
- 2 TBL Mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Honey
- 0.5 Lemon zest – finely grated
- 0.5 Lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Process
- Mise en Place – measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- Oven toast walnuts – preheat oven to 350 F. Bake ~8 mins, cool and then break up into small pieces.
- Whisk yogurt, mayo, parsely, honey, lemon zest together. Season with salt and pepper.
- Half, core and cut apples into slices.
- Cut celery, including leaves.
- Cut grapes
- Add the apples, celery, and grapes to the yogurt mix and sprinkle with lemon.
- NOTE: The lemon helps keep the salad fresh and from changing color.
- Rinse and dry the lettuce leaves.
- Arrange leaves on a plate and place the salad on top.
- serve.
