Heirloom Apple Salad
The sort of hearty apple salad I love. It has heirloom apples, shaved celery, and toasted nuts of your choosing. The dressing is creamy and spiked with rosemary, garlic and champagne vinegar.
If you're looking for a simple apple salad, you're in the right place. There's a reasonable chance that you have the ingredients needed to make it sprinkled around your kitchen - on counter tops, or in the crisper. And if not, there are lots of ways to make substitutes. It's hearty and substantial, colorful and crunchy - made with heirloom apples, shaved celery, and toasted nuts of your choosing. The dressing is crème fraîche (or sour cream) spiked with rosemary, garlic and champagne vinegar. 
Apple Salads - All About the Crunch
This salad is big on crunch. And that alone is likely the reason it has become a fall favorite. There's crunch from crisp apples, celery, and nuts. Pair that with the creaminess in the dressing? It's a nice contrast. My main tip? Seek out crisp apples with good flavor. And pass on mealy apples.
Substitutions
Think of this recipe as more of a sketch than anything else. I used arugula because it's what I had on hand, but the baby gems at the market looked great and would have been a nice substitute. Same goes for the nuts. Toast whatever you have on hand - pine nuts, almonds, or walnuts. And on the dressing front, crème fraîche brings a beautiful luxe texture into the mix, but you can certainly use sour cream or even yogurt, and whatever good-tasting white wine vinegar you like.
Slicing the Apples
Another variable you can experiment is the cut of the apple. You can see my preferred slices up above. They thick enough to retain some snap, and bite-sized. I like them sliced this way so you can get a bit of everything on a fork - some arugula, apple, nuts, etc. But if you really love apples, add more and slice them thicker. I also have it in my notes to do an apple salsa of sorts - with everything chopped smaller & a few serrano chiles chopped and added to the mix. For use on winter panini, and the like.
The Dressing
The dressing is great on all sorts of things. Not just apple salad. It's decadent drizzled over roasted potatoes (or sweet potatoes!), as a finishing kiss for mushrooms, or as a slather on panini. I also love it drizzled over oven-roasted broccoli, or a medley of sheet-pan baked vegetables.
Your Apple Salad Ideas
Over the years you've left some great suggestions and variations in the comments. I'm going to highlight a few and also encourage you to let us know of any riffs on the recipe you enjoy in the future!
- Amanda says, " I grated a half a celery root into the salad as well, which boosted the yummy celery flavor and added another texture. So good!"
- Chase brilliantly swapped in pears, "I have made this salad 8 times in the last 10 days!!!! An instant favorite! Hazelnuts were the nut of choice and a pear/apple mix with some added Rosemary crostini crumbled in gives it a great crunch!!!"
- Dana turned it into more of a main dish, "I added some cooked and cooled wheat berries to this salad and it was divine! Nutty crunch and great nutrition to bulk it up for a main course dinner."
- Kara introduced a few ingredients, "“Hallelujah!” is what I thought when I bit into this salad today for lunch! I substituted baby broccoli for the celery, used walnuts, and some sliced Parmesan."
Have fun and poke around for more salad recipes, or more fall recipe inspiration. I love this Genius Kale Salad, this Shaved Fennel Salad from Super Natural Every Day, this pure Cilantro Salad for the cilantro fans out there, and for more of a main, this Hazelnut & Chard Ravioli Salad is always a go-to. And if you're looking for a way to use up apples? This is the apple pie!
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Heirloom Apple Salad
A bit of hard, aged cheese is welcome here as well - shave of thin strips and add toward the end.
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 12 rosemary leaves, minced
- 1 medium garlic clove, peeled
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml crème fraîche (or sour cream)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 3 large celery stalks, sliced thinly
- 2 crisp heirloom apples, cut into sixths, and then thinly sliced*
- 4 handfuls arugula, baby gems, or baby romaine
- 1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, or pine nuts
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Make the dressing first. Crush the sea salt, rosemary, garlic, and sugar into a paste with a mortar and pestle (or smash it all together with a knife). Work in the creme fraiche and vinegar, taste and adjust with a bit of pepper and more salt if needed.
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When you're ready to serve, combine the celery, apples, salad greens, and most of the nuts with a few half of the dressing. Toss well, adding more dressing until it is to your liking. Finish with the remaining nuts, and any torn celery leaves.
Serves 4-6.
* If you're not going to use the apples immediately keep them in a bowl of water spiked with a bit of lemon juice (or the white wine vinegar you're using for the dressing). Drain and pat dry before using.
Related Recipes
Shaved Fennel Salad
This could very well be my favorite salad recipe from Super Natural Every Day - shaved fennel, arugula, zucchini coins, feta, toasted almonds.
Hazelnut & Chard Ravioli Salad
Ravioli salads are the best! Plump raviolis tossed with toasted hazelnuts, lemony chard, and caramelized onions are at the heart of this ravioli salad recipe. The colorful platter is finished off with a dusting of cheese, snipped chives, and lemon zest.
Cilantro Salad
The best salad I've had in the past year was a cilantro salad. Meaning, no other lettuces. None. Unless you absolutely loathe cilantro, you 100% must try it. It is made with cilantro leaves and stems tossed with a simple shallot-forward soy sauce dressing, plus peanuts. I’ll often add asparagus.
Genius Kale Salad
There is a special kale salad recipe in the Food52 Genius Recipes cookbook. A single kale salad that ran the gauntlet, beating out all others, for a slice of limelight.
Shaker Apple Pie
The defining detail of this traditional Shaker apple pie is the use of rose water in the filling. Sliced apples, brown sugar, and a splash of floral results in a special combination. Pair it with an all-butter crust and you have a beautiful apple pie on your hands.
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Comments
Not a big fan of rosemary. Can you suggest another herb?
Sasa, what about jicama for the celery? This sounds amazing; hoping to make it soon. :)
Heidi, can you clarify on the rosemary called for in the heirloom apple salad? By 12 'leaves' do you mean to simply pull off 12 of the tiny spikey parts from one stem, stopping at 12? Or am I missing something completely? Rosemary is very strong and I love it, but don't want to overdo. Thanks much! Rachel
HS: Exactly, Rachel - 12 of the little needles.
What a bright, fresh salad for a normally cold and dreary time of year.
This both looks and sounds delicious. I'm actually really excited by this post, although it is almost winter, I still love eating salads! I think they're great! So thank you very much for yet another yummie salad recipe! :D Love, Saar
Apples go so perfectly in fresh salads. They have just the right balance of sweet to tart, and in my opinion, elevate most salads to the next level. I imagine the rosemary and celery also add a great flavor kick!
This salad sounds great! Love this idea!
This sounds SO delcious! thanks!
This looks absolutely perfect! I haven't had a Heidi-inspired salad for awhile. I think it's time to change that.
This looks like the excuse I've been waiting for to try making my own creme fraiche. Been wanting to do so since my local dairy person told me how.
So this is basically a Heidi-fied Waldorf salad! E.g. more sophisticated, more yummy, more interesting. Thanks a lot, Heidi, I 'm going to try the dressing with plain Greek yoghurt. Best luck with the clean- up!
I made a great apple salad too. I do chunks of sweet, crisp apple, chunks of aged cheddar, baby romaine and a honey mustard dressing. Sometimes some toasted pecans tossed in. Your salad looks delicious!
i really love to mix fruit with vegetables. When i dont have apples i use pears. It is delicious
perfect flavor combo! love the nutty crunch too!
Perfect. As Chanukah approaches, I get ready to make what we dubbed "latke recovery salad": tart apples, romaine, celery and nuts with apple cider vinegar honey mustard vinaigrette (no oil!). It's perfect after having several plates full of latkes. Now I will make your dressing for when I bring the leftover salad to work the next day :)
That salad looks amazing and that dressing sounds perfect! Do you have any idea what that variety of heirloom apple is?...we are always looking for "new" ones to put in at our farm. Good luck with the basement cleanup!!
HS: HI Kay - I think those were Arkansas black apples.
Yum! Can sense this one will become a favourite- the dressing is sensational!
Funny thing, I just posted an article on heirloom foods on my blog: talking about coincidences. This salad is just perfect, I'm gonna add a link to this recipe. Btw, do you know what's the name of the variety of apples you used? They almost look like plums. Anyway, so sorry to hear about your basement, hopefully you'll get everything back in order soon enough.
HS: Hi Mike, I believe they were Arkansas Black apples.
lunch = sorted!
So sorry to hear about the basement; wishing you the best of luck. Salad sounds really good - crunchy and fresh!