I remember my grandma’s waldorf salad– an interesting mix of both fruit and vegetables, all mixed up with a paste-like dressing. I have never been a huge mayonnaise fan, but yet I was enthralled with the waldorf dressing. A little mayonnaise, a touch of whipped cream, could it be? Sweet yet tangy, light and lustrous, this dressing seemed to have it all. I would sit at the table, a dish of the mellifluous concoction before me, both repulsed and intoxicated.

Now it’s been years since I have partaken in this salad of yore. And just the thought of it, I must say, repulses rather more than intoxicates me. But the basics of the waldorf salad are good ones. It has good bones. It’s just the dressing that must be updated, made more palatable for my 21st century tastebuds. And so I resorted to a vinaigrette; and I added chicken. Think of this salad an an ode to ladies who lunch.

The chicken salad, like the waldorf, harkens back to a more simple day. Let’s put it this way, when ladies (because, come on, they were mostly the diners) were nibbling upon their chicken salad served on toast points, they were not then racing home to illegally download the latest episode of The O.C. onto their Powerbook G4. But that is not to say that we cannot consume the updated chicken salad during said episode.

Earlier this week I made a roasted chicken. It was delicious, steaming hot from the oven, skin crackly and brown. But it was too much for Brian and I to eat in one sitting. Enter the Waldorf Chicken Salad. Some shredded chicken, sliced celery, chucks of sweet-tart apples, toasted pecans, and the piece de resistance, blue cheese, and there you have it. I added a warm vinaigrette of sliced shallots, white wine vinegar, oil, and honey. The warmth from the dressing melted the cheese a bit, creating a rich, and sumptuous sauce.

The salad was a perfect mix of old and new. And I even thought of my grandma’s staunchly sweet waldorf salad while I gobbled up my lighter version. However, this recipe can be made without the chicken as well. It works out wonderfully as an accompaniment to grilled sausage.

Waldorf Chicken Salad

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.