I am sure that most readers are familiar with Waldorf salad and that many of you have made one on numerous occasions. As is also well known, this salad takes its name from New York’s Waldorf Hotel, where it was first created in the years before the hotel was merged with its neighbour to form the Waldorf-Astoria.
We quite like a Waldorf salad ourselves, especially when suitable apples are in season. The only variations we make to the traditional composition are to add some slices of dried apricot to the apple, celery and walnuts, and use a modified dressing, as I have previously described. And we lightly toast the pieces of walnut in a dry pan, for extra crunch!
Whenever we do make a Waldorf, it is as a side-dish for pork or chicken. However, we also like to have a dressed salad of baby beetroot with these meats. So, drum roll please Maestro, we have cross-bred the two, substituting the sweetness of the baby beetroot for that of fruit and the heat of a little homegrown, grated horseradish for Dijon mustard in the dressing. Simple yet complex, and very delicious.
