A winning waldorf salad

With a mandoline at hand, this revamped waldorf salad recipe, with candied nuts, can be sliced up in minutes, ready for a trip down memory lane.

An apple corer like this de Buyer Fruit and Vegetable corer will also come in handy.

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 smoked chicken breasts
2 large Granny Smith apples, unpeeled
2 large Gala apples (any crisp red apples), unpeeled
1⁄2 cup peeled and julienned celeriac
50g walnuts, roasted
50g caramel cashew nuts
2 cups watercress

For the dressing

1⁄2 cup crème fraîche
1⁄2 cup plain yoghurt
3 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 drop of Truffle oil or walnut oil
2 Tbsp fresh chopped chives
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method:

1. Slice the 2 chicken breasts with the mandoline. To get lengthy strips, simply change the slicing angle. Cover and keep cooled in the fridge. The chicken breasts can be sliced a little thicker than the apples by adjusting the mandoline.

2. To make the dressing, combine the crème fraîche, yoghurt, lemon juice, truffle oil and chopped chives in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly but gently. Remember not to add too much Truffle oil. Due to its very strong essence, it could over-power the dish.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep chilled in the fridge.

4. To make the salad, core all four apples with the an apple corer. Slice the apples into rounds on the thinnest setting of the mandoline. Slice the rounds into fine julienne match sticks with a chef’s knife.
5. Add the apples to the dressing to prevent from browning.

6. Chop the celery into long and thin slices and add to the salad.

7. To assemble the salad, remove the chicken breasts from the fridge and plate. Pile the salad on top, then add some of the roasted walnuts and caramelised cashew nuts.

8. Round the salad off by adding a little watercress. Serve immediately.

Browse all Mandolines on Yuppiechef.com

With thanks to Sybil Doms for her lovely styling and beautiful recipes.