Cabbage Salad with Apples and Walnuts
With crisp apples and toasted walnuts, this salad from the Chez Panisse Fruit cookbook is a lively and refreshing first course.
Ingredients:
1 small head Savoy cabbage
2 apples (any crisp, eating variety, such as Braeburn, Granny Smith or Fuji)
⅓ cup walnuts
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or heavy cream
½ cup olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Tear off and discard tough outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut it in half and cut out its core. Slice the halves crosswise into a fine chiffonade.
2. Toast the walnuts in the oven for 8 minutes. While they are still warm, first rub them in a clean dish towel to remove some of the sins, then chop or coarsely crumble.
3. Prepare the dressing: Mix vinegar with the lemon juice, some salt and a generous amount of pepper. Whisk in the olive oil and then the crème fraîche or cream. Taste and adjust the acid and salt as desired.
4. Peel, core and quarter the apples. Slice the quarters lengthwise fairly thin and cut these slices lengthwise again into a julienne.
5. Toss the cabbage, apples and walnuts with the dressing and add an extra pinch of salt. Let salad sit 5 minutes, taste again and adjust seasonings as needed.