Walnut week comes to an end

This is the third and final walnut recipe I’m putting out – for now!  I love a challenge and a feature ingredient assignment, because just having a few guidelines makes recipe development a lot easier.  And it’s great to see the roundup of everyone’s recipes at the end…TheRecipeRedux is the best for that because everyone featured looks at food through the lens of nutrition AND flavor. Be sure to browse the gallery at the end of the post!

Walnuts are not only incredibly nutrient dense, they can go sweet, savory or even both ways at the same time (as in this recipe).   They pair particularly well with apples and berries at the same time as getting lots of flavor depth from spices like cumin and coriander.  A classic Waldorf salad called for chopped apples and grapes; my version ups the fancy factor by using thinner julienned slices, adding jicama, and blueberries instead of grapes.  The walnuts are spiced with a salty-sweet-savory combo that offers a lot of flavor depth to this summer recipe favorite – bring it to your next potluck picnic!

The Blue Waldorf

Ingredients

Spiced Nuts

• 1 c raw walnuts
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp oil

Salad

• 2 apples – one sweet like Fuji, one tart like Granny Smith
• 1 c chopped spiced walnuts (from above, cooled)
• 1 c jicama slivers
• 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup chopped celery

Dressing

• 1/4 c mayo
• 1/4 c greek yog
• juice of 1 lemon
• dash salt & pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.  Toss walnuts with oil, mix spices separately and then toss with walnuts to coat.  Bake for 10 minutes, then remove and cool.  To make the salad, use a mandolin or julienne by hand to cut apples and jicama into slivers.  Add to the rest of the salad ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine dressing ingredients and whisk to blend, pour over the rest of salad.  Serve over greens or alone.

I received free samples of California walnuts mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the California Walnut Commission and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.