Vegan 鈥淲aldorf salad鈥
This epic gluten-free vegan salad is an absolute must! It takes a bit of effort, but it鈥檚 well worth the wait.
Ingredients
For the pickled raisins
- 300ml/10fl oz white wine vinegar
- 300驳/10陆辞锄 caster sugar
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp white peppercorns
- 2 star anise
- 450g/1lb raisins
For the vegan mayonnaise
- 120g/4陆oz unsweetened soya milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 240ml /9fl oz rapeseed oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the celeriac and apple remoulade
- 300驳/10陆辞锄 celeriac, spiralised
- 300驳/10陆辞锄 Granny Smith apples, spiralised
- 1 tbsp celery salt, plus extra for seasoning
- 150g/5陆oz vegan mayo (see above)
- 2 tsp wholegrain mustard
- lemon juice, to taste
- black pepper
For the blue cheese beignets
- 5 tbsp cornflour
- 200g/7oz vegan blue cheese, cut into wedges
- 100驳/3陆辞锄 gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 120g/4陆oz gluten-free plain flour
For the walnuts
- 100驳/3陆辞锄 walnuts
- 1 tsp rapeseed oil
- icing sugar
- salt
For the scorched lettuce
- 1 cos lettuce, split into quarters, edges and root trimmed
- nutritional yeast flakes
- celery leaves, to garnish
- handfuol watercress, to garnish
Method
To make the pickled raisins, put all the ingredients, except for the raisins, in a saucepan with 300ml/10fl oz water and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. While still warm, pour over the raisins in a sealable plastic container, and leave overnight.
To make the mayonnaise, use a hand-held blender to whisk together the soya milk, vinegar and lemon juice. Slowly drizzle in the oil, while still blending, until you have a thick mayonnaise-like consistency. Season to taste.
To make the celeriac and apple remoulade, season the celeriac with the 1 tablespoon of the celery salt in a bowl and leave for 20 minutes.
Rinse the salt off the celeriac through a sieve and tip onto a clean tea towel. Gather up the edges and twist to squeeze out any excess moisture. Tip into a clean bowl.
Add the Granny Smith apples to the celeriac. Mix the mayonnaise and the mustard together, then fold into the celeriac and apple until fully combined. Season to taste using celery salt, black pepper and lemon juice.
To make the cheese beignets, preheat a deep-fat fryer to 180C. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
Mix together the cornflour with 75ml/2陆fl oz water in a shallow bowl. Put the plain flour in a second shallow bowl and the breadcrumbs in a third shallow bowl.
Dip each blue cheese wedge into the flour, then into the cornflour mix, then into the breadcrumbs. Make sure they are all evenly coated.
Deep-fry the bon bons for 2鈥3 minutes until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and grease with rapeseed oil. Sprinkle the walnuts over the baking paper and dust with icing sugar.
Bake for 4鈥5 minutes, until just starting to caramelise. Season with salt and set aside to cool.
Scorch the inside of the lettuce with a blow torch (alternatively griddle the lettuce, cut side down, on a hot griddle pan), and season with vinaigrette and nutritional yeast flakes.
Place the lettuce onto a serving plate and top with the remoulade, raisins, walnuts, yeast flakes, celery leaves and watercress. The cheese on the side.
Recipe Tips
You can make the mayonnaise the night before and store in a sealed container in the fridge.
