in my personal chef days, I oftentimes prepped special holiday meal components for my weekly clients. One of my most-requested winter salads was this apple, walnut & bleu cheese salad, (for very good reasons). It’s a salad for people who don’t like salads and it’s a gorgeous addition to your holiday table.
apple, walnut & bleu cheese salad inspiration:
holiday meals can oftentimes be rich, heavy and often monochromatic in color. this apple, walnut & bleu cheese salad will liven any holiday meal because of its ingredients. it has a festive appearance, a tart and vibrant vinaigrette, in-season sweet apples, earthy walnuts and pungent bleu cheese.
salad ingredients:
I pair this light, acidic and crisp salad with bitter radicchio and creamy bleu cheese for a flavor melody that synchronizes beautifully.
- fresh apples: I use a mix of Granny Smith apples and honey crisp apples yielding a festive red-green color palette for the holidays.
- Treviso radicchio: gorgeous and delicate purple and white winter greens add a bitter crunch which pairs perfectly with the sweet apples.
- toasted walnuts: the earthy, nutty and crunchy qualities of toasted walnuts are a match made in heaven for this salad.
- bleu cheese: this is an appropriate time to buy a higher quality bleu cheese because you only need 4 ounces and a little bit goes a long way. I selected colston Bassett stilton from Neal’s yard dairy and it was perfect- a gentler and sweeter version of a typical bleu cheese.
- sherry vinaigrette: I keep this vinaigrette quite tart to cut through the richness of the walnuts and bleu cheese. fresh garlic adds a sharp spice and fresh lemon zest adds brightness.
menu pairing ideas:
this salad is versatile enough to pair with various holiday occasions with this fun meal inspiration:
- thanksgiving: my relish tray, roasted turkey, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, sage-smashed butter potatoes, awb salad.
- ladies luncheon: scoop of tuna salad atop greens, awb salad, popovers with honey butter.
- christmas brunch: apple walnut & bleu cheese salad, smoked salmon, cream cheese and bagel display with garnishes, butterscotch apple bread pudding.
- hanukkah dinner: braised brisket, matzo ball soup, potato latkes, awb salad, gf rugelach.
- couples dinner party: awb salad, my marsala mushroom mini meatloaves, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, my “candy bar,” date bark.
Apple, Walnut & Bleu Cheese Salad
This Apple, Walnut & Bleu Cheese Salad will impress all of your guests- it's sweet, tart, crunchy, earthy and simply delicious.
Ingredients
- two medium apples one green Granny Smith and one red Honey Crisp or Gala
- 4 heads of red Treviso Radicchio root removed and leaves separated
- 4 oz bleu cheese I used Colston Bassett Stilton from Neal's Yard Dairy
- 1 cup walnut halves
Sherry Vinaigrette:
- ¼ cup sherry vinegar
- 1 T lemon zest
- ½ t honey
- ½ cup good ollive oil
- ¼ t crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 garlic clove grated on microplane
- ¼ t pink Himalayan salt
- 10 turns fresh-cracked black pepper plus more for garnishing
- Maldon flaked sea salt for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and arrange walnuts on a small parchment- lined baking sheet. Bake walnuts 400 for 5-7 minutes to lightly toast. Set aside to cool.
- Make sherry vinaigrette. In a mason jar, add all ingredients then shake vigorously to emulsify- about 20-30 seconds.
- Slice apples and add to a medium bowl. Toss with 1/3 of your vinaigrette.
- With a butter knife, gently create rustic larger crumbles of the bleu cheese.
- On a decorative platter, assemble salad. Begin by adding 1/2 of your radicchio leaves scattered across your platter. Begin adding bundles of your apples, with the pretty skin facing outward and fanning out. Add remaining radicchio leaves and drizzle desired amount of reserved vinaigrette atop radicchio leaves. Add walnuts across platter, followed by blue cheese crumbles.
- Finish salad with fresh-cracked-black pepper, flaked malden sea salt and and a final drizzle of vinaigrette, (you may likely have leftover vinaigrette). You can make the salad the morning of your event and wrap carefully to prevent air from oxidizing apples. Serve chilled.
