Wednesdays & Thursdays are this family’s crunch days.  Basketball practice & games, riding lessons and late classes have us all arriving home around 7:00pm.  Dinner on these evenings needs to be easy…very easy, or completely made ahead of time.  Tonight’s dinner falls into both categories!  This salad is a wonderful way to make use of the left-over meat from last night’s Roast Chicken dinner.  The only stove-top cooking required is the fruit juice reduction for the dressing. Everything else is simply slicing and dicing…which I accomplished prior to the afternoon’s activities.  Making the dressing ahead meant that all I had to do when we returned home was to wash the greens & toss the salad.

The secret to this salad is the dressing…forgoing the traditional bath of mayonnaise and substituting a refreshing combination of a fresh fruit juice reduction paired with a mixture of honey, Dijon mustard, turmeric, mayonnaise & olive oil.  Also, the traditional toasted walnuts are replaced with salted & roasted pistachios.  The resulting salad finds the perfect balance between sweet, salty & savory {with plenty of crunch}.  Begin with the dressing…

Waldorf Salad Dressing {adapted from Epicurious}

• 1 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup organic, unfiltered apple juice
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• ½ cup olive oil
• Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Place orange juice & apple juice in a heavy medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil & continue to cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon and is reduced to 2/3 cup ~ about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool completely.
2. Whisk mayonnaise, honey, mustard and turmeric in a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in juice mixture and then the olive oil.  Season to taste with salt & pepper.  If not using immediately, place in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 4 days.  Let dressing come to room temperature before using.

For the salad…

Chicken Waldorf Salad {adapted from Epicurious}

• 4 cups, ½-inch cubed, roasted {or poached} chicken meat
• 1½ cups cored & diced Granny Smith apples, tossed with 2-3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to keep apples from browning
• 1½ cups halved red seedless grapes
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• ½ cup red onion, diced
• ½ cup roasted & salted pistachios {optional}
• 5 ounce bag of baby arugula or spring lettuce mix
• Waldorf dressing

1. Mix first 6 ingredients in a large bowl.  Add dressing, gradually {reserving 1-2 tablespoons}, and toss to coat.  In a separate, small bowl add lettuce and toss to coat with the reserved dressing.  Serve the chicken salad & the greens, side-by-side on a plate.