We were in the car, heading home from the farmer's market, and discussing what to have for lunch. I wanted a salad, but Annie said that we didn't have very much Romaine lettuce left. Undaunted, I started calling out some salad ingredients: avocado? Got. Feta? Got. Chicken? Not much. Ham? Nope.
Then Annie said, "Hey, we've got grapes and apples from the farmer's market. And celery in the fridge. How about we make Waldorf salad? I have a recipe from Fine Cooking magazine that I've been meaning to try, the same one that featured the Chopped Mexican Salad and Chopped Greek Salad."
Sounds good to me!
Chopped Shrimp Waldorf Salad
The traditional Waldorf salad consists of apples, celery, grapes and nuts, with a mayonnaise-based dressing. We've done Waldorf salad before, using Granny Smith and Fuji apples, raisins, craisins and pecans with a sour cream-based dressing. This recipe from Fine Cooking adds in chopped, steamed shrimp for an added savoriness.
Chopped Shrimp Waldorf Salad
adapted from Fine Cooking, June/July 2006 issue, p59.
Salad ingredients
20 large shrimp, shelled
1 head of romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
2 small Fuji apples, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 cups red seedless grapes, halved
3 ribs celery, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1/2 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
1 Tablespoon chives, chopped
Dressing ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley (the original recipe calls for tarragon)
1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Halved Red Flame Grapes
Method:
1. Steam the shrimp in a steamer basket for 3 minutes. Remove from steamer and let cool.
Steamed Shrimp
2. Whisk the mayonnaise, buttermilk, lemon juice and mustard together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cut the cooled shrimp into 1/2 inch pieces and mix with the Romaine, apples, grapes, celery and toasted almond slivers.
4. Toss with enough dressing to lightly coat (Note: you may not need it all).
Chopped Shrimp Waldorf Salad with Dressing
5. Season to taste with more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed. (I actually sprinkled in some paprika on mine.)
6. Serve in individual bowls and sprinkle with chopped chives.
Chopped Shrimp Waldorf Salad
Let me tell you, there's a lot of flavor going on here. The sweetness of the apples and grapes balances against the tanginess of the buttermilk and lemon. The shrimp adds a nice, savory surprise while the chopped celery and toasted almonds are a delightful backdrop.
I'd say this recipe is another winner. And the possibilities for playing around are endless! Sunflower seeds instead of almonds. Chopped green onion and blanched broccoli instead of celery. Crab meat instead of shrimp - awwww, yeah!
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Aloha, Nate
14 Comments:
I absolutely love Fine Cooking magazine. Every recipe I've ever made from there has been great. This looks like a winner too!
Nate: I just love your lighting in all of your photos!! Your composition and depth of field are always perfect. You make everything look so ono!
Your pictures really make me salivating, shps...sps... great to know another excellent Malaysian cook!
I love Waldorf Salad, and this version looks so tasty. Oh, Nate and Annie, I made some chocolate oatmeal stout, I know, it ain't barleywine.
what a beautiful salad - excellent photos!
Beautiful photos! I love versatile recipes like this, where we can just throw in anything (well, almost anything) we have on hand. :)
Dang, I knew I should have picked up some grapes at the farmers market yesterday...I'd have everything to make this!
@kalyn - I agree, Fine Cooking doesn't disappoint!
@jalna - thank you for your compliments!
@homeladychef - welcome and good to know you too!
@robert - chocolate oatmeal stout? bring some over! We'll talk about barley wine later. heheheh
@mediterranean kiwi - thanks! hope you get to try it.
@ning - everything but the kitchen sink ;-)
@mrs l - oh well, there's always next week ;-)
Looks ono! I've never considered adding shrimp to a Waldorf Salad but it makes so much sense.
This is totally unrelated, but did you ever watch "Fawlty Towers," an old English sitcom starring John Cleese as a hapless bumbler trying to run an inn? There's a hilarious episode in which these Americans request a Waldorf Salad and then have to explain to him, step by step, how to make that. It's hard to explain why that's so funny; guess you had to be there!
I love Waldorf salads.. and this one with the shrimp looks especially good! And the pictures of the oysters are gorgeous!
@Jenster - I've only ever watched 1 or 2 episodes of Fawlty Towers. Now I have to go watch that episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGm5XWPMB5U
@laurie - thanks!
@Jenster - I've only ever watched 1 or 2 episodes of Fawlty Towers. Now I have to go watch that episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGm5XWPMB5U
@laurie - thanks!
The Waldorf Salad part of "Fawlty Towers" happens near the 6:30 mark in Part 2 and continues into Part 3 on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmuPXrv4yiQ&feature=related
The premise is that the Americans arrive too late for dinner but offer Mr. Fawlty some money to keep the dining room open. The ever-cheap Mr. Fawlty refuses to pay his chef to stay late so the chef leaves and Mr. Fawlty has to keep pretending that there's someone else besides him preparing the food. Hope you enjoy it!
@jenster - Actually, I do believe I've seen that clip before. John Cleese is a maniac!
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