Corner Market Texas Waldorf Salad

Here's a very simple twist on a forever family favorite: the Waldorf Salad, Texas-style.

I adore regional cookbooks.  I love trying recipes specific to different parts of our wonderful country.  This is a Southern Living Cookbook that covers the loverly South/Southeast from OK/TX to SC/FL and parts in between (gots to love them Southern cooks!!!)  

We've all had the traditional Waldorf salad:  apples, celery, walnuts.  But this is with a Texas twist.  Substitute pecans for walnuts and add some pears, dried cranberries, and some poppy-seed dressing.  Lovely.

CORNER MARKET TEXAS WALDORF SALAD (5 servings)

1/2 cup pecan halves
2 cups (1") cubed unpeeled Granny Smith apple
1 1/4 cups (1") cubed peeled Bosc pears
3/4 cup seedless green grapes
3/4 cup seedless red grapes
1 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp bottled creamy poppy-seed dressing

Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake pecans in a shallow pan 5-6 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.  Let cool separately.

Toss together apple and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl.  Drizzle dressing over fruit mixture; sprinkle with nuts, and toss to coat.  Cover and chill until serving, if desired.

Recipe Source:  Southern Living: Off the Eaten Path: Second Helpings, 2014, p. 17