This Sweet Potato Waldorf Salad is a twist on the classic with the addition of sweet potatoes and cranberries providing a contrast of colors and textures.
One of my favorite salads for Christmas is the Waldorf Salad. A search on the web directed me to The Kitchen Project website with a write-up on the The History of Waldorf Salad. It says here that the salad was created at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1896 by the maître d’hôtel, Oscar Tschirky. The salad was an instant success. I can’t remember when was the first time I tasted Waldorf salad but it was certainly an instant success with me. I have always associated this sweet, crunchy salad with Christmas, perhaps because of the colors.
A few years back, I chance upon this wonderful cookbook by Janet Ballantyne called Joy of Gardening Cookbook. This classic vegetable cookbook has more than 350 step-by-step color photographs on the recipes presented. This is an older cookbook and I am not even sure if it is still in print. If you love vegetables, it is definitely worth your while to check out this book. She has a recipe in here for Sweet Potato Waldorf Salad. The addition of sweet potatoes is just delightful. The sweet potatoes not only give the salad a contrast of textures but also a lovely color.
This recipe was adapted from Janet Ballantyne’s Sweet Potato Waldorf Salad. I have also added some dried cranberries to give it a pop of color. Instead of serving it on a bed of lettuce, I chose to serve it on a bed of baby greens. I hope you will give this salad a try.
Similar Tools Used in Making This Sweet Potato Waldorf Salad
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• Calphalon Contemporary Hard-Anodized Saucepan with Steamer Insert, 4 1/2-quart
• Cuisipro Stainless Steel Measuring Cup and Spoon Set
Sweet Potato Waldorf Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups sweet potatoes (½ inch cubes) from 2 sweet potatoes
- 2 cups apples (½ inch cubes) from 2 large apples
- ½ cup celery diced from 1 stick of celery
- ½ cup raisins (80g)
- ½ cup dried cranberries (70g)
- ½ cup walnuts (50g)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup mayonnaise / salad dressing / vegenaise
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 5 oz fresh baby greens (140g)
Instructions
- Steam sweet potatoes until just tender, about 6 to 7 minutes. Do not overcook as you want the sweet potato pieces to hold its shape. Plunge into cold water. Drain.
- In a large bowl, toss apples and lemon juice. Add celery, raisins, cranberries, walnuts, and sweet potatoes. Sprinkle nutmeg over fruits and vegetables. Add mayonnaise and toss to coat.
- Chill for at least an hour before serving.
- To serve, place baby greens on a plate. Spoon salad onto baby greens.
Nutrition
Look at that pink sky at dawn. 5 to 8 inches of snow is expected today and tomorrow…..brrrr!
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
Namitha says
That sure is a festive salad..Great pic of sky 🙂 Have a great week end !
Spoon and Chopsticks says
Interesting salad.
Brownieville Girl says
Lovely and colourful, and great combination of flavours.
We are snowed in at the moment.
simply.food says
Looks amazing and so very scrumpticious.
Cherine says
I’ve never had this salad, it does look really good!
elisabeth@foodandthriftfinds says
Another one of your gorgeous colorful salad. I would welcome this salad, any time of the year!
Biren-I have an award for you to pick up at my blog…just copy and paste the award, and the rules, and pass it on to 15 bloggers or less if you choose to do so.
Congratulations, well deserved!
Biren says
Thanks Elisabeth for honoring me with an award. So nice of you to think of me 🙂
Alex aka Ma What's For Dinner says
What a great take on a waldorf and soooo beautiful too. Great job!
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What’s For Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
Jagruti says
never heard of this salad..look so yummy..thanks for sharing !!
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Pam says
What a great salad I will have to try! It sounds like a perfect Waldorf salad, love it! I will be looking around, it has been hectic here with Thanksgiving and company, etc. so there is a lot of posts to catch up on. Thanks for this recipe!
It’s cold here too and expecting up to 6″ snow. We have the salt can out and ready and snow blower too. Time to move South!!!!!
Have a great weekend, Biren and stay warm!
Mary says
What a fabulous idea and great combination of ingredients. It looks delicious. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings…Mary
Reeni says
This is one of my favorites too Biren! I love this revamped version with sweet potatoes! The picture is stunning!
Victoria says
I love this idea!! I’m a fan of sweet potatoes and they look great in this Waldorf salad 🙂
love2cook says
I am a fan of salads! Simply loved ur version 😉
Anncoo says
Your salad looks so beautiful and refreshing. I love salads and next time I must remember to add sweet potatoes in it.
lequan says
This is such a beautiful salad, Biren. It’s actually the first time I have seen or heard of this salad. Great idea to add cranberries for some colour. I’ll bet the cranberries added great taste as well.
Ooh, beautiful picture of that pink sky. When my bedroom is all lit up by the colour of the pink sky, I know I’ll have some shoveling to do tomorrow. Hope you don’t get too much snow.
tigerfish says
Your waldorf salad certainly looks more colorful than the typical waldorf – love it!
Claudia says
I also love the Waldorf Salad – jazzing it up with a sweet potato adds nutrition,color and heft – a grand idea. That lovely sky picture was my sky yesterday also. 7 inches! A good day to stay home and cook!
Joanne says
I love replacing white potatoes with sweet potatoes wherever I can and this sounds delicious!
Stella says
The up close picture of the salad is so pretty, Biren, and I associate Waldorf salad with winter and Christmas too! Your version with sweet potatoes sounds extra healthful and delicious:)
Pachecopatty says
I love the sweet potatoes in your Waldorf salad Biren, very pretty!
It’s cold outside but such a pretty time of year:)
nasifriet says
I love the colours of this salad. It definitely brightens up an otherwise cold and dreary winter day:-)
We were minus 15°C the last 3 days 🙁
lee ann says
This salad is opulent and worthy of a special occasion. The mayo you use is my favorite brand to buy … at our house we love the grapeseed mayo. Thanks for sharing, oh and the dried cranberries I can’t wait to try in this best of salads. LA.
sarah says
nice clicks..salad looks so yummy!!
Sommer @ A Spicy Perspective says
I get excited about Waldorf Salad too. I love the addition on sweet potatoes–that’s a really nice twist!
pigpigscorner says
The sweet potato adds a nice colour too! Great addition!
penny aka jeroxie says
So healthy! My mum will be in love with this.
Nutmeg Nanny says
This looks great! I love that you used sweet potatoes.
Katherine Martinelli says
Wow, I love your addition of sweet potatoes here! Thanks so much for linking up to my salad blog hop! 😀
Hyosun Ro says
Biren – This is definitely my type of salad! Love sweet potatoes, nuts, apples, and dried fruits in a salad. I am with you that it looks very festive and seem so appropriate for holidays. Thanks for sharing.
Kristen says
I LOVE this creative use of sweet potatoes! I have been sharing with my Facebook community, a healthy lunch idea ever since we have reached 2013.
I am going to share this link with them today! This is such a great idea! I cannot wait to try it!
Biren says
Thanks Kristen for visiting and commenting! I am glad to hear you like this recipe. I am delighted you have to chosen to share it with your Facebook fans. Thank you! 🙂