Waldorf Salad

Waldorf Salad

1 cup walnut halves
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
Pinch of dry mustard
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 to 6 tart apples, peeled, cored, and diced (2 cups)
1 to 2 cups finely diced inner ribs celery
(white part only), leaves reserved
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bunches tender greens, such as arugula, baby kale,
or pepper cress, washed and dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 325F.

Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven
for 4 to 5 minutes, until aromatic and lightly toasted.
Let cool.

Combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, both mustards, and the lemon juice
in a large bowl. Fold in the apples and diced celery and
season with salt and pepper.

Put the salad greens in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and lemon juice,
season with salt and pepper, and toss well. Divide the greens among four
plates. Spoon the apple mixture onto the greens and sprinkle with the
toasted walnuts and reserved celery leaves.

After the Waldorf Hotel opened in 1893 New Yorkers began enjoying an unusual salad on the menu, consisting of just three ingredients: cubed apples, chopped celery and mayonnaise. It was called the Waldorf salad, reputed to be the brain child of Oscar Tschirky, and it was an instant hit. Later, chopped walnuts were added, then grapes or raisins. Over the years other variations have arisen, such as subsituting cut up pears for the apples and low fat yogurt for the mayonnaise, or adding pineapple chunks or orange wedges in place of the celery, flavoring the mayonnaise with lemon juice or cinnamon or nutmeg or blue cheese, or perhaps serving the salad with turkey, chicken or ham to make it a luncheon entree. Cooks are forever trying to improve the salad, or put their stamp on it, but whenever one tastes chunks of apple and celery slathered in mayonnaise with bits of nuts, no matter what else is there, one is apt to think "Waldorf Salad!" Perhaps the most obvious addition occurred mid-century when the diced apple, celery and walnuts were stirred into lemon jello and molded for ladies' luncheons, served with a dressing of mayo mixed with whipped cream.