Dragon Fruit Waldorf Salad

This dragon fruit Waldorf Salad with apples, grapes, cilantro, and cashews, served on a bed of Bibb lettuce, is fresh, light, and delicious. 

This take on a Waldorf salad includes dragon fruit (also known as the pitaya), the exotic looking bright magenta fruit with a white flesh speckled with tiny edible black seeds. It can also come in other colors, both inside and outside, but the magenta outside and white inside dragon fruit is most common.

What is a dragon fruit?

The dragon fruit is part of the cactus family, and has a very mild flavor, kind of like an Asian pear. To eat it, you can just cut it in half and eat it with a spoon. It's a little bland on its own, but it goes great in smoothies and salads, like this Waldorf salad.

The outer peel is not edible, but it's easy to remove after slicing the fruit in half.

It's super low in calories, high in vitamins B and C, and it's high in fiber.

It's also delicious in cheesecake! 

What is a Waldorf Salad?

A Waldorf salad is typically made with green apples, grapes, celery, and walnuts in a mayonnaise dressing. Evidently, it was first served at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York in 1893. 

This Waldorf salad is a little bit different. This recipe includes dragon fruit instead of the celery, and it is tossed in a mixture of plain yogurt, a little bit of mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, and some freshly grated ginger, making it lighter and brighter. I've also added cashews instead of walnuts. This salad is so fresh, light, and delicious and the dressing is amazing. 

Instead of green apples, I used Envy apples, which are very crisp, sweet, and tart. If you can't find them, Braeburn or similar apples would work too. 

The salad should be chilled for at least and hour so that the flavors come together. P.S. Leftovers of this salad, while maybe not as pretty, are still very tasty the next day. 

For Freaky Fruits Friday, hosted by Culinary Adventures with Camilla, I received three gorgeous dragon fruits as part of a shipment of from Melissa's Produce. 

We also received chayote, kiwano melons, cherimoya, passion fruit, rambutan, pomegranates, strawberry papayas, and blood oranges. Next Friday, look for my recipe using chayote, and the following Friday, I'll be posting cocktails using rambutan, kiwano, and passion fruit.

I used the pomegranate arils in a baby greens, pomegranate, blue cheese, and pecan salad. For a recipe using strawberry papaya and blood oranges, check out this margarita. I also made cherimoya ice cream à la Shockingly Delicious.

Check out everyone's Freaky Fruits Friday Recipes:

• Blood Orange Party Punch by Strawberry Blondie Kitchen
• Blood Orange Strawberry Papaya Daiquiri by Blogghetti
• Chayote Squash Enchiladas Suiza by Frugal & Fit
• Chile Lime Shrimp with Cherimoya and Strawberry Papaya by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Dragon Fruit Cream Pie by Cooking with Carlee
• Dragon Fruit Waldorf Salad by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Freaky Frutanada by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Rambutan Apple Pie by Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Thai Red Curry Dragon Fruit Chicken Salad by Savory Moments

Dragon Fruit Waldorf Salad Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Karen Kerr

This dragon fruit Waldorf Salad with apples, grapes, cilantro, and cashews, served on a bed of Bibb lettuce, is fresh, light, and delicious.

ingredients:

• 1 ripe dragon fruit
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 Envy apple or another tart and sweet crispy apple, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup red seedless grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/3 cup cashews, chopped
• Bibb lettuce leaves for serving

instructions:

How to cook Dragon Fruit Waldorf Salad Recipe

1. Cut the dragon fruit into quarters, lengthwise. Peel off the skin. Cut the quarters widthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices. 
2. Whisk together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, honey, ginger, and salt in a large bowl. 
3. Add the apples, grapes, dragon fruit, 3/4 of the cilantro, and 3/4 of the cashews and toss to combine. 
4. Refrigerate the salad for at least an hour to chill. 
5. Serve the salad over Bibb lettuce leaves, and sprinkle with the remaining cilantro and cashews. 

Calories
341.94

Fat (grams)
15.53

Sat. Fat (grams)
4.82

Carbs (grams)
49.69

Fiber (grams)
4.76

Net carbs
44.94

Sugar (grams)
33.75

Protein (grams)
5.00

Sodium (milligrams)
470.47

Cholesterol (grams)
15.40

Nutritional info is an estimate based on the ingredient list, and may not be completely accurate.

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2019/10/dragon-fruit-waldorf-salad.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

dragon fruit, waldorf salad, salads

Salads, side dishes

American

Created using The Recipes Generator

This recipe was adapted from Food Network.

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Disclosure: I received product for from Melissa's for recipe posts. All opinions are my own.