How Ina Garten Transforms The Classic Waldorf Salad
The Waldorf salad possesses a sweet, creamy crunch loved by many people. The American dish originated in 1893 at a charity ball held at the newly opened Waldorf Hotel, honoring St. Mary's Hospital for Children (via The New York Times). The salad's recipe was created by Edouard Beauchamp, the Waldorf's executive chef, and Oscar Tschirky, its maitre d'hotel. People soon amped up the simple three-ingredient salad recipe by adding chopped nuts, oranges, marshmallows, and other ingredients.
Today, the Waldorf salad recipe lives on, with variations that play on the recipe's simplicity and sweetness. Initially, the salad only consisted of three ingredients: apple, celery, and mayonnaise (which you can make at home). Its easiness attracts the tastebuds of people everywhere.
Many families have created their own variations of the Waldorf salad, with home cooks including Craisins instead of raisins, and yogurt or crème fraîche instead of mayonnaise. Famous chef Ina Garten also puts a twist on the classic American salad with ingredients that send your tastebuds dancing.
She adds vinaigrette, raisins, and boiled egg
Ina Garten puts her spin on the famous Waldorf salad in a video on Food Network's YouTube channel featuring her chicken and spinach Waldorf salad recipe. The revised version of the traditional salad substitutes homemade vinaigrette instead of mayonnaise, and raisins instead of grapes. The Barefoot Contessa also puts her stamp on the recipe by incorporating shredded chicken, sliced boiled egg, bacon, sharp cheddar, and shredded red apple. She roasts walnuts, cashews, and almonds and tosses those into the mix as well. These goodies are folded into crisp kale, frisée, and baby spinach.
Garten's vinaigrette consists of a whisked combination of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, honey, salt, and pepper; according to her, adding mustard to a salad dressing spices things up a bit and helps emulsify the ingredients. How does the famous chef's salad recipe differ from the original version? Garten does not add celery or mayonnaise!