Waldorf Chicken Salad

This recipe can be made without the chicken as well. It works out wonderfully as an accompaniment to grilled sausage.

Serves 4 as a main dish or 6 as a side

For the dressing:

2 shallots
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons walnut oil (or any nut oil)
salt and pepper, to taste

For the salad:

1 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and loosely chopped
5 ribs of celery, cut into ½ inch dice
3 medium sized, firm, semi-sweet apples like Braeburn or Jonah Gold, cut into ½ inch
chunk
1-1 1/2 cups shredded, skinless chicken
1 cup maytag or buttermilk blue cheese, crumbled

Thinly slice the shallot and add to a small saucepan with the rest of the dressing ingredients. Whisk over medium heat on the stove until the mixture comes to a boil. When brought to a boil and honey is completely incorporated, shut off heat but leave the dressing in the pan on the stove while you make the rest of the salad.

If using whole walnuts, secure in a ziploc bag and bash with a mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan. The nuts should be crushed loosely, not pulverized. Put nuts in a pan and toast over medium high heat on the stove. Nuts should begin to smell toasty and take on a darker hue when finshed. When complete, add walnuts to a large mixing bowl.

Chop the celery into ½ inch dice and add to the same mixing bowl. Cut your apple into six or eight equal pieces, core, then cut into ½ inch dice. This step should be done close to serving, so apples do not turn brown and oxidize. Add both the celery and the apples to the bowl with the nuts. Add the chicken, and crumble blue cheese over the mixture and mix together.

Pour warm dressing over salad ingredients and toss together. The heat from the dressing causes the blue cheese to melt adding yet another layer of flavor to the salad. Taste, and season with salt and pepper.