Waldorf Salad

The salad was first created between 1893 and 1896 at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City (the precursor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which opened in 1931).

Oscar Tschirky, who was the Waldorf's maître d'hôtel and developed or inspired many of its signature dishes, is widely credited with creating the recipe. In 1896, Waldorf Salad appeared in The Cook Book by 'Oscar of the Waldorf'; the original recipe did not contain nuts, but they had been added by the time the recipe appeared in the Rector Cook Book in 1928.The salad became popular enough that Cole Porter featured it in his song "You're the Top".

Cole Porter may have been right...it's at the top of simple and delicious.

Here's my version:

2 red delicious apples
1 green granny smith
1 bunch red grapes
1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts
2 stalks of celery, diced in small pieces
1/2 cup miracle whip
Dash of Cinnamon
Dash of salt


Do not peel apples. Remove the core and cut the apples in bite size cubes or pieces. Remove grapes from stems and put apples and grapes in a nice glass bowl. Toast pecans only long enough to crisp them. Do not burn. Dice celery into small bites. Add pecans and celery to apples in the bowl. Put a dash of Cinnamon and dash of salt in the miracle and stir to combine. Add miracle whip mixture to apples and stir gently to combine and coat all pieces.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Nice to serve on a leaf of Boston Lettuce.