TtoE Waldorf Salad to make the most of autumn produce

A salad dish my family indulged in, Waldorf Salad, makes the most of autumn fruits. Recently, I've been making this uncooked dish to refresh my appetite without heating my small kitchen.

The sweet and savoury salad, originating in the kitchen of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York, is easy to make. Back in the 1890s, the chefs came up with an autumnal salad with a mix of chopped celery, apples, and walnuts. Usually, the salad has a savoury mayonnaise-based dressing. I had fond memories of my family's variation and had a go at making a Japanese late summer version.

A friend gave me huge bunches of Shine Muscat, a grape variety at its best in autumn. Genkidesu told us about the September bounty of these juicy beauties in 2025.

My version of Waldorf salad incorporates these magnificent grapes and nashi, the Japanese pear. The recipe is super simple. I chopped some nashi, celery, walnuts, and halved the grapes. I tossed the ingredients with a dressing of mayonnaise, lemon juice, a drizzle of honey, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. The classic recipe serves it over lettuce, but I used cabbage leaves. The salad is sweet, savoury, and satisfyingly crunchy. It's one of my favourite bento box fillers and weekend brunch sides.

Do you have a variant of Waldorf salad using Japanese produce? Will you have a go at my version?