Apple Salad

Apple Salad
Dorcas Annette Walker

Every day in our lunchbox there was an apple, sandwich, and cookies. In fact I grew very tired of the sight of the ever present apple, but whenever I complained I was told, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. My mother did all kinds of things to tempt me to eat my apple. She quartered and cored it and even reluctantly peeled the apple to try and get me to eat my apple instead of bringing it back home. On rare occasions we got a banana or an orange. In those days there were no kid’s vitamins. My mother was trying to keep us healthy and instill healthy eating practices. Thanks to my mother’s persistence somewhere along the way I began to like eating apples. So guess what I packed in my kid’s lunches when I became a mother, and found myself doing when my daughter complained that she didn’t like apples? Unfortunately today, children are not sent off to school with a packed lunch and healthy apple. So here is a recipe to add apples to your diet and help your family stay healthy this winter.

In Greek mythology, apples were associated with the healing god Apollo. During medieval times physicians used cooked apples for bowel disturbances and apple juice was prescribed as an antidepressant. The apple is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits and is in the rose species. Not only are apple delicious, makes a great snack, are low in calories, and is a natural mouth freshener, but they are a great source of fiber, especially the skin. To store apples and keep them crisp place them in the bottom of your refrigerator as apples ripen fast at room temperature. Always wash apples before eating or using.

My Apple Salad is a healthy colorful crunchy salad made up of different fruits enfolded in a mild sweet creamy dressing. You can add sliced grapes, flaked coconut, or other fruits and substitute the chopped nuts with walnuts, almonds, or peanuts- mix-matching items to create your own individual salad. Preparation time for my Apple Salad is about twenty minutes (not counting the cooling time) and this recipe serves around fifteen.

Apple Salad

4 c red apples diced
1 c raisins
1 banana sliced
½ c minced celery
½ c chopped pecans
1 c water
½ c sugar
2 tb self-rising flour
1 egg
½ (8 oz) container of cool whip

Mix together the apples, raisins, banana, celery, and pecans in a medium-sized bowl. In a small saucepan bring to a boil stirring constantly with a Wisk the water, sugar, flour, and egg until thickened. Let cool. Stir in the cool whip and fold over the fruit until thoroughly covered. Let chill before serving. Can garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon!

Weekly tip: A pinch of salt intensifies something sweet. That is why people sprinkle salt on raw fruits such as apples, cantaloupes, and watermelons!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com