Turkey, celery and apple salad with apricots
A fresh, crunchy salad of sliced roast turkey, celery and tart apples soaked in brandy and dried apricots, set on a bed of lettuce and red cabbage. A light, creamy yogurt and olive oil dressing with chives ties everything together.
Ingredients
Instructions
Peel and core the apples and cut them into small cubes. Put them in a bowl with the lemon juice, brandy and chopped apricots, stir well and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
Chop most of the lettuce and shred 2 of the cabbage leaves into thin strips. Slice the celery. Keep the remaining lettuce and cabbage leaves whole for the plate, and refrigerate everything.
Lay the turkey slices on a plate, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
For the dressing, blend the olive oil, cream, yogurt, salt and pepper in a blender until smooth. Stir in the chives.
Line a platter with the whole cabbage and lettuce leaves. Pile the chopped lettuce, shredded cabbage and celery on top, then add the apple and apricot mixture, and finish with the turkey slices. Pour the dressing over and serve right away.
Notes
Use leftover roast turkey, or good deli roast turkey breast. Roast chicken breast works the same way. Slice the meat as thinly as you can so it drapes over the salad.
Drain the apples lightly before adding them so the brandy does not thin the dressing. The lemon keeps the apples from browning, and the soaked apricots turn plump and slightly boozy.
Keep the dressing separate until the last moment so the greens stay crisp.
Variations
Add a handful of chopped walnuts, as in the classic Waldorf salad.
Add halved grapes or a few raisins.
For an alcohol-free version, soak the apples and apricots in 1 tablespoon of orange juice instead of brandy.
Swap the dressing for mayonnaise thinned with a little cream or yogurt, as in the original Waldorf.
Source
This salad belongs to the family of the Waldorf salad, the New York classic of apples, celery and a creamy dressing. The Waldorf was created at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York for a charity ball on March 13, 1896, and is credited to the hotel's maître d'hôtel, Oscar Tschirky. The original had only apples, celery and mayonnaise, and no nuts; walnuts were added later, and cooks soon made versions with leftover chicken or turkey.
This recipe keeps the apple and celery base and the idea of cold poultry, but swaps the mayonnaise for a lighter dressing of olive oil, yogurt and cream, and adds dried apricots soaked in brandy.