Whole Food Wednesday – Not Another Waldorf Salad Recipe!

Welcome to Whole Food Wednesdays. I think I’m about to start a trend because for the third week in a row I’m going to post yet another salad recipe: The Waldorf Salad. Now I know what you’re thinking, there’s nothing exciting going on here. It may not be the most innovative creation but it is a wonderful winter salad. This salad is simple and allows all the natural flavors to come through.

So a little history lesson for you. The Waldorf Salad was developed in and around the 1890′s, but the addition of walnuts did not come until the 1930s. So, traditionally the recipe was made of apples, celery, walnuts and a mayonnaise dressing served on a bed of lettuce. All kinds of variations now exist including chicken, turkey, grapes and yogurt for the dressing.  So I won’t be the first to scandalize this salad recipe said to be created by Oscar Tschirkyof New York.

Though I did take a few liberties, there were few and, quite honestly, they were harmless. Instead of the lettuce I chose rocket, otherwise known as arugula, for it’s peppery taste. I also chose sour cream as the base for the dressing. The result is a crunchy satisfying salad, one with healthy fats (from the nuts and cream), protein (nuts), fiber (apple) and anti-oxidants, vitamins and mineral in heap loads (rocket).

Now if you’re confused about what healthy fats are (vegetable oil and margarine are not it) this recent post by the Healthy Green Kitchen might help you weed through all the garbage we’ve been told for the last 30 years.

Note: If you don’t care for blue cheese (your crazy but not alone), feel free to sub in feta or even a nice stinky grated asiago.

Blue Cheese Waldorf Salad

for 2 (multiply as necessary)

• 1 apple
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 cups of rocket
• 1/2 cup roasted walnuts

Core and thinly slice the apple and set aside. Thinly slice the celery (any way you like, but I chose lengthwise to facilitate eating with my fingers). Place a cup (or more) of rocket onto a plate, top with celery and sliced apples. Add a 1/4 cup of toasted walnuts on top and drizzle with blue cheese dressing. Add fresh ground pepper.

Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/4 cup of sour cream
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp water

Place all the ingredients together and blend until well combined. If you’d like a creamier dressing, use a blender or mini food processor.

Whole Food Wednesday’s Round-Up Rules

To come and play, use the linky tool below to add your link. Only link to the specific post and not your home page or else we won’t be able to find all that juicy information you’ve left us with.

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• 4. If you’re sharing recipes, the only requirement is that the ingredient list be comprised of real food only, that means non-processed food items. That being said, we are all in different places on our real food journey, some more advanced than others. I invite all of you to share, no matter where you are on your journey, but I ask you to stay mindful when sharing your recipes that this is a whole (real) food blog. This means, no ingredient lists that include edible oil products (velveeta, frozen whip topping), unfermented tofu, protein powders, ketchup, white flour or white and brown sugar.
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Now it’s your turn to share your whole food recipes and ideas!

I’m sharing this with Real Food Wednesdays, This Chick Cooks, Simple Lives Thursdays, Full Plate Thursdays and What’s Cooking Wednesdays.