Recently we cooked a 4-course dinner for a friend’s birthday, and this salad was the first course. We wanted something light to whet the appetite, which was visually striking and delicious. We decided to create our own unique version of the classic Waldorf Salad. One of our core ingredients for the night was good-quality buttermilk, so we incorporated this into the salad dressing in place of the traditional yoghurt. To create some different textures, we kept the crunch of the witlof, celery and toasted walnuts, but added the surprising element of an apple and celery jelly. We were really happy with the result and we hope you give it a try!

Serves 4 people as an entrée or two as a main course.

Apple and Celery Jelly:

• 250ml cloudy apple juice
• 2 sheets gelatin (10g)
• 3 celery leaves, finely chopped
• sea salt and cracked pepper

Bloom the gelatin by soaking it in cold water until it softens. Heat the apple juice in a saucepan over a medium heat until simmering. Add the gelatin and stir until it dissolves, then strain into a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the celery leaves, salt and pepper, stir and refrigerate overnight.

Vinaigrette:

• 3 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1½ Tbsp good-quality red wine or sherry vinegar
• 80ml canola oil
• 2 tsp good-quality buttermilk

Make the dressing by combining all ingredients in a jar, and shake until well combined.

Salad:

• 1 celery stalk, julienned
• 2 witlofs, leaves seperated
• Vinaigrette
• Apple and Celery Jelly, diced into 1cm cubes
• 100g toasted walnuts

Combine the celery and witlof in a bowl with the Vinaigrette. Place the dressed witlof leaves on the plates, overlapping in a crisscross pattern. Top with dressed celery sticks and the cubes of jelly. Scatter with the toasted walnuts and serve.