Salad a crisp treat with fresh apples

Take a trip to any grocery store, roadside stand or farmers’ market and you’re bound to be swooning over the sweet aroma and eye-catching colors of fall’s favorite fruit.

Chomping into a good apple right out of hand is great, but if you happen to love apples as much as I do, you’re probably looking for even more ways to enjoy them.

This easy salad is just the thing. The recipe is all about crisp apples, but it gets an extra autumnal flavor boost from walnuts coated in a sweet-spicy glaze and dried cranberries plumped in orange juice.

For the dressing, I use Nayonaise, a tofu-based mayonnaise that has about half the calories of regular mayonnaise – and can fool even the staunchest tofu-haters. You can find Nayonaise at natural-food stores.

Waldorf Salad with Spiced Glazed Walnuts

Spiced nuts:

3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon water

1 cup toasted walnuts (see note)

Salad:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup Nayonaise (tofu-based mayonnaise)

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt

1 1/2 pounds apples, cored and chopped

1 large celery stalk, thinly sliced

To make spiced nuts: Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. In a small sauté pan, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, cayenne pepper and water. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture is syrupy, about 2 minutes. Add the nuts and stir to coat. Cook until nuts are coated, 30 seconds. Turn nuts out onto prepared pan. When nuts are cool, chop them roughly and set aside. (The nuts can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container.)

To make the salad: Microwave the orange juice in a glass measuring cup until hot, 1 minute. Add the cranberries, stir and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain cranberries, discarding orange juice. In a medium bowl, whisk together the tofu mayonnaise, orange zest, honey, lemon juice and salt to taste. Add the apples, celery and drained cranberries to the bowl, and toss gently to combine.

Divide salad among 4 plates and top with spiced walnuts.

Note: To toast nuts, spread on baking sheet and bake in 350-degree oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until they start to brown.

Yield: 4 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 413 calories, 23 grams fat (2 grams saturated, 51 percent fat calories), 6 grams protein, 53 grams carbohydrate, 7 grams dietary fiber, no cholesterol, 418 milligrams sodium.