Waldorf Salad

A recipe for Waldorf Salad – that salad with apples, grapes, celery and walnuts in a mayonnaise dressing.

I had a Waldorf Salad recipe on the old version of twimii and I had a recipe for Waldorf Slaw on abitmoreveg. To be honest neither recipe is great. I love Waldorf Salad. I don’t know why the recipes turned out a bit wrong – ok with the Waldorf Slaw I meant to make it with Chinese Cabbage but then couldn’t find it in the shops that day and just decided to use white cabbage instead. The original one is grand but the photos are terrible and I would normally eat it with baby gem lettuce – and um the recipe for the dressing uses way too much lemon.

I’ve actually made it a bunch of times lately with the intention of taking nice photos of it – and then forgot – each – and – every – time … I’m beginning to think Waldorf Salad has its own particular god and that god has decided to smite me – well smite you too Waldorf Salad God – smite – you – too. Honestly though I do love this mix of grapes, apples, celery and walnuts in a tangy mayonnaise. So just lay off WSG.

Waldorf Salad, named after the hotel where it was first created, is a mix of celery, apple, grapes and walnuts in a mayonnaise (sometimes mixed with yoghurt) dressing. It’s a lovely creamy, crisp, crunchy sweet salad. In summer it looks great served on little baby gem lettuce leaves but it also makes for a sweet and substantial winter/autumn salad when you add white cabbage to it – it’s not great with white cabbage, it’s nice with Chinese Cabbage – and turn it into a Waldorf Slaw. This is why the smiting began, isn’t it WSG? Salad deities – so so petty.

Everyone knows that celery is low on calories. It is so low in fact that it is said you use more calories consuming and digesting it than it contains so you burn calories just by eating raw celery alone. I have never been very interested in how much calories foods contain. If anything I tend to think of high calorie foods as something that will give me an energy boost. So, years ago, I used to think that celery was a pretty pointless thing to eat as it took more energy to eat than it gave you. I wasn’t aware that although it has only a few calories it rich in nutrients and fibre. It is said to help regulate your body’s alkaline balance (as it contains alkaline minerals), has an anti-inflammatory effect (due to the polyacetylene), and it’s even said to have a calming effect on the nervous system and be good for preventing insomnia.

While not everyone knows how good celery is for you, most people are aware that walnuts are. Like fish, walnuts have been reputed for centuries, to be good for your brain and it turns out that this isn’t some old wives tale, there are compounds, including vitamin E, folate, melatonin, omega-3 fats and antioxidants, in walnuts which are said to support brain functioning.

And that’s just some of the goodness this salad contains…

So this is a photo of the ingredients for the abitmoreveg Waldorf Slaw

If you’re using the mayonnaise from the 4 Egg Foolproof Food Mixer Mayonnaise then you can omit the wholegrain mustard but if you’re using shop bought mayonnaise add a spoon of wholegrain mustard.