Apple Salad- Cooking with Andrea

This time of year, apples are plentiful and the perfect food for end-of-summer salads, fall pies, tarts, and dumplings.  For Labor Day we chose to make Andrea's delicious Apple Salad.  Andrea is a wonderful cook, and her contribution to our family get together did not disappoint us.   The flavors are fresh, and the color appeal would make any artist want to paint a masterpiece.  Try her version of this classic salad, and you will make it your go-to recipe.

Andrea's Apple Salad

Denise and Andrea ready to cook!
A little family history:
Andrea is my husband Doug's niece and his brother Ken's daughter.
Ken made Mom's Rhubarb Pudding Cake in a previous blog.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 cup raisins
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 1/2 cups red grapes
• 4-5 red apples (Pink Lady)
• 1- 6 oz. carton vanilla yogurt

This is a great recipe to adjust to your own tastes.  You may add or subtract amounts of any of these  ingredients.  The best apples to use are those that are crispy and slightly tart.  Andrea's preferred apples are Honey Crisp.

Andrea had a salad similar to this one at a restaurant in San Antonio.  She liked it, and started playing around with the ingredients.  She uses a lowfat yogurt to make it lighter and with fewer calories.

Gather the ingredients.

Use a large mixing bowl so you can mix the ingredients together.
Then you can transfer the salad to a serving bowl.
First, pour 1 cup walnut pieces into bowl.
Chop them up into smaller bite-size  pieces if you wish.

Add 1 cup raisins.

Mix together.  Andrea likes hands on  cooking.

Wash 2 stalks celery.

Chop into bite size pieces,
you can use a thick or fine dice.

Mix together.

Wash a bunch of red grapes.
We used about 1 1/2 cups.

Cut in half with scissors.

Mix together.

Wash and core 4-5 apples.  Then dice the slices.

Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the layer of apples in the bowl.
This will add a little more tartness to the salad,
and keep the apples from turning brown.

Mix after the apple is added.

Core and slice each apple.

Chop the slices into bite-size pieces.
Continue until all the apples are added.

Squeeze lemon juice as each apple is added.

Mix all the ingredients together.

Dress the salad with 1- 6 oz. carton of vanilla yogurt.
You can use any flavor yogurt, blueberry would be good.
We also used fat free yogurt.
If you do not care for the traditional salad dressing or mayonnaise,
you may like this healthy, light dressing.

Stir in yogurt.

Mix until all the pieces are coated with yogurt.

Pour from mixing bowl into serving bowl.

Try this beautiful salad with this fall's apple harvest.

Enjoy!