You like to eat apples to supplement your weight loss menu but don’t want to eat in a monotonous way anymore, so let’s try these 2 delicious and unique apple salad recipes below! Join TasteVN in the kitchen to make these 2 apple salads right away!
1. Thai-style Apple Salad
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Preparation
30 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for Thai-style Apple Salad For 2 people
Apple 1 piece Carrot 1 piece Long beans 2 pieces Cherry tomatoes 5 pieces Red onion 1 piece Chili 2 pieces Dried shrimp 1 teaspoon Fish sauce 1 teaspoon Sugar 1 teaspoon Roasted peanuts 1 tablespoon Cilantro 2 sprigs
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh carrots
- To choose fresh carrots, you should select those that are of medium size, elongated towards the tail, with smooth skin, firm to the touch, and slightly hard.
- Choose carrots that are bright, deep orange in color, with fresh green tops firmly attached to the body of the carrot.
- Avoid carrots with wilted tops, bruised bodies, slimy spots, or dark blemishes; when pressed, they should feel soft.
- Do not choose overly large carrots. If the leaves, stems at the base, and shoulders of the carrot are large and thick, these are older carrots, which will have more fibers and less nutritional value.
How to choose fresh long beans
- Good long beans are still young, with a color leaning towards banana green, feeling firm and solid. In addition, select bunches that have beans that are not too large and feel heavy in hand.
- Choose long beans that are evenly round, crisp, and easy to snap as these are young beans.
- Do not buy if you see mature beans; squeezing them should feel like the seeds inside are large, soft, spongy, or if the beans are infested, deformed, or wilting.
How to choose fresh tomatoes
- You should choose tomatoes with bright red skin, evenly colored. The outer skin should be intact, without scratches, and plump, indicating fresh tomatoes.
- Naturally ripened tomatoes usually have a mild aroma, which can be easily detected when smelling. In contrast, tomatoes that have been artificially ripened have no fragrance at all.
- You should choose tomatoes that still have their stem attached, with the stem still fresh and not wilted.
Tools required
Mortar and pestle, knife, cutting board, bowl
How to make Thai-style apple salad
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Prepare green apples
Wash the green apples, then slice them into thin strips.
Put the sliced apples into a bowl, then squeeze half a lemon into it and mix well.
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Prepare the remaining ingredients
Similarly, wash the carrots, peel them, and slice them into thin strips. After preparation, cut the string beans into pieces about 5cm long. Wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them in half.
Peel the shallots and then slice them thinly. Finally, chop 2 chili peppers into small rings.
Tip: You can mix the carrots with sugar to make them crisper!
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Pound the mixture
You add the green beans, tomatoes, shallots, chili, and dried shrimp to pound until crushed.
Then, you add 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and 1 teaspoon of sugar and mix well.
Next, you add 1 tablespoon of peanuts to pound together and mix the mixture well.
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Mix the salad
You add the shredded apple and carrot to a bowl, then add the pounded mixture and mix well.
Finally, you add cilantro and toss well to complete!
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Final Product
Thai-style apple salad is both fragrant and spicy, with crunchy sweet and sour apples, truly wonderful, isn’t it? You can enjoy it with fried fish or fried shrimp; it’s also fantastic!
2. American-style Apple Salad (Waldorf salad)
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Preparation
20 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients for American-style Apple Salad (Waldorf salad) Serves 4
Apple 1 piece (medium sweet like Gala) Seedless red grapes 80 gr Celery 80 gr Chopped walnuts 80 gr Mayonnaise 85 gr Yogurt 85 gr Honey 1/2 tablespoon Chopped fresh dill 1 tablespoon Paprika powder a little Black pepper a little Himalayan salt a little Lemon juice 1/2 tablespoon Lettuce 8 leaves
How to choose fresh and delicious ingredients
How to choose fresh celery
- To choose good celery, you should pay attention to selecting bunches that have bright green color and are clean, with thick leaf stems. The celery stalks must be round and uniform. The roots should be minimal, and the segments of the celery stalk should be long.
- Avoid plants with pure white stems, unusually swollen, and white shoots that are ‘immature’ as these have been over-fertilized. Also, avoid bunches of celery that are dark, with uneven stalks and many roots.
How to choose fresh grapes
- Choose grapes that are of moderate size, not too large, slightly soft, with a smooth, shiny surface, and free from bruises. Additionally, fresh and delicious grapes will have a powdery coating on the skin.
- Each type of grape will have its distinct color, for example, green grapes, red grapes, black grapes (American grapes),… However, naturally ripe grapes will have a glossy and plump skin. Conversely, if the grapes are not plump, it indicates they are still immature.
- Freshly picked grapes will have green and firm stems, while grapes that have been stored for a long time will have brownish-black, withered stems. Therefore, you should look at the stems to select good grapes.
- Good grapes will have a sweet taste with a slight acidity and contain seeds. Be cautious of grapes that are overly sweet, have small seeds, or are seedless.
Suggestions for where to buy salad mixing ingredients
- Salad mixing ingredients such as walnuts, Himalayan salt, Paprika, mayonnaise can be easily purchased at supermarkets, large grocery stores, or you can order them online from reputable e-commerce sites.
- You can buy yogurt in the market or make it yourself using the TasteVN recipe to ensure safety.
How to make American-style Apple Salad (Waldorf salad)
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Toast the walnuts
You place a pan on the stove, add 65g of chopped walnuts and toast over medium heat for 4 minutes, then let cool.
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Make salad dressing
You put mayonnaise, yogurt, honey, dill, paprika powder, black pepper, sea salt, and lemon juice into a bowl, then mix the ingredients until well combined.
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Prepare the ingredients
The celery you buy should be washed and diced. The lettuce should be washed and drained.
Next, wash the grapes and cut them in half or quarters depending on their size! The apple should be washed, left unpeeled, and diced.
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Mixing the salad
You mix apples, grapes, celery, and toasted walnuts together, then add all the dressing and mix well, or you can add less depending on your taste!
You arrange the lettuce on the plate, then place the salad on the plate and add the remaining walnuts on top for decoration!
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Final product
The American-style apple salad or Waldorf salad is nutritious enough that you can use it as a main meal! Creamy, fragrant, and not too heavy, it’s perfect for those who are following a vegetarian diet.
How to choose delicious fresh apples
- You should choose apples that have a uniformly dark red color, not mottled with green and red; the redder the apple, the sweeter it will be.
- Pay attention to selecting apples that have a balanced shape, with slightly rough skin; apples that are not overly smooth and shiny will often be sweeter.
- When buying, you can lightly flick the apple with your fingers; if you hear a loud, clear sound, feel it to be firm, and the flesh is solid without being soft, and if it feels heavy in your hand, those are the delicious crispy apples.
- Fresh apples must have the entire stem intact; the stem should be fresh and tightly attached to the apple, making it hard to fall off.
- Naturally ripened apples will have a mild, pleasant aroma; the riper the apple, the stronger the scent will be.
- Apples are quite commonly sold in the market; however, you need to be selective about where to buy them, only purchasing from reputable fresh fruit stores or seeking them directly from farms or orchards.
- To save time, you can also look to buy from reputable e-commerce sites like bachhoaxanh.com.
With the 2 apple salad recipes mentioned above, you can confidently lose weight without feeling discouraged by dieting anymore. TasteVN wishes you success with these 2 salad dishes!
