Though walnuts were not in the original Waldorf salad, they are considered an essential ingredient today.
Credit for the original goes to Oscar Tschirky, maitre d' at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City. Published in 1896 in "The Cook Book by 'Oscar of the Waldorf,'" the salad was a simple concoction of two chopped apples and some chopped celery dressed with a good mayonnaise. By 1928, walnuts became a ubiquitous ingredient in Waldorf salad. In far more recent versions, dried cranberries give the salad a festive flair.
Instructions
1. Wash and pat dry the salad greens. Set aside.
2. Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice and milk in a medium bowl to make the dressing.
3. Wash and chop the celery. Wash, core and coarsely chop the apples. Stir celery and apples into the dressing.
4. Chop the nuts coarsely and mix them into the salad along with the dried cranberries.
5. Arrange a bed of salad greens on each salad plate. Mound about 3/4 cup Waldorf salad on top of the greens. Serve the salad immediately.
Tags: salad greens, Waldorf salad, dried cranberries, original Waldorf, original Waldorf salad, Waldorf salad