About 4 or 5 years ago my husband, who knows I’m a fan of a good salad, came home mentioning someone at work had talked about having a Waldorf salad. He asked if I thought I could eat it. I googled it and saw it had mayonnaise in it. Mayonnaise….which contains eggs. At this point I was still pretty ticked off at my food situation and the fact that I’d had to eliminate so many foods from my diet. Also I hadn’t discovered any of the mayonnaise substitutes yet. (I’m not really sure how many were out there that many years ago, to be honest.) So I looked at him and because I was still pouting said, “No. Not gonna happen.” Case closed.
Fast forward to now and I’ve discovered not one, but three mayonnaise substitutes – Vegenaise, Just Mayo and Hellman’s Vegan. I’ve tried all three and bounced around between them all regarding taste. The first I discovered was Vegenaise. Taste isn’t bad; but I can only find it in health stores – which is not ideal for me personally, because the closest health store is 30 minutes away. It also costs about 30% – 40% more than the other two brands. Both the Just Mayo and Hellman’s Vegan are carried in my local Kroger and somewhat comparable to each other in price. Between these last two varieties I am finding that I am using the Hellman’s Vegan more often, preferring it’s taste when I make my potato salad or coleslaw.
Last week I decided it was time to finally take on that Waldorf salad. All I really knew about a Waldorf salad was that it called for apples, and I didn’t have any. I picked up some Granny Smith apples. When I got home I googled the recipe and discovered I should have gotten sweet, red apples -not tart, green apples – and I should have picked up red grapes too. (You can check out the recipe at: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/?s=waldorf+salad). This really didn’t slow me down. As I told you in an earlier post, I don’t take recipes too seriously. I figured I could make the salad with tart apples, forget about the grapes – and mesh the first recipe I’d found with another recipe I’d discovered for a Waldorf salad with green apples, dried cranberries (which I had) and no lettuce. This would work. (This is the 2nd recipe (https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/green-apple-waldorf-salad/a0324c5b-02bd-4292-b333-1afd40d9dae6). Since I was winging it now, I figured I might as well add that left-over cooked chicken breast I’d just found in the fridge. Viola! The salad turned out beautifully and we both enjoyed it.
As I was writing this post a few days later, our son and his girlfriend asked us to join them and several others for a steak dinner. Our outside temperature that day was in the mid-forties – which felt like springtime to all of us after weeks of sub-zero temperatures and he said he was in the mood to grill. I told him I’d bring a salad – Waldorf salad. I started putting it together and realized that as I’d been writing the recipe for this post I’d forgotten a couple things. Oops. That’s what I get for not writing the recipe down as I cobble it together. At any rate, I finished the salad and we went to his house enjoying a delicious grilled steak dinner along with oven roasted potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower and Waldorf salad . My salad went over great. Yay! I think I now have a good “go-to” recipe for a dish to pass.
Below see my recipe and pics.
Brenda’s Egg-Free Waldorf Salad with Chicken
- 6 Tablespoons Hellman’s Vegan
- Couple pinches of granulated sugar (to sweeten up the Hellman’s Vegan a bit)
- One Tablespoon lemon juice
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 or 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into small pieces
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup celery, thinly sliced
- 1 cup chopped, slightly toasted walnuts (I debated about toasting the walnuts – Read: lazy – but found that toasting them actually brings the flavor out in them.) How to do it: I put a little olive oil in a pan with the walnuts and toasted them for a couple minutes on the stove top, that’s it.
- Cooked chicken breast cut into small pieces
- Lettuce
In a medium size bowl whisk together the Hellman’s Vegan, sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper . Stir in the apples, cranberries, celery, walnuts and chicken. Toss with lettuce. Serve. I had some salad left over and kept it refrigerated for two days. I took it to work to have with my lunch. Before I ate it, I added more lettuce. It wasn’t quite as crispy as the first time, but not bad. I wouldn’t want to let it set more than a day or two.
Egg-free Waldorf salad with chicken
Thanks for stopping and enjoy!!
Brenda
Disclaimer:
These recipes and tips are not guaranteed to work or be safe for everyone. Allergies are extremely complicated and vary for each individual. It is still your responsibility to read labels to ensure your safety. I cannot be held liable for any ill effects from using my tips to avoid your allergies. (Sorry guys, I don’t foresee any problems, but Momma’s gotta cover her backside, ya know? Just read your labels!)