Roquefort Salad with Apple, Celery, and Hazelnuts

Serves 12 | Total Time 25 minutes
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Every host needs a crowd-size salad that’s simple to make but impressive enough to hold its own against the rest of the dishes on the table, and this one delivers. We started with the classic and sophisticated combination of blue cheese, apples, and nuts. The sweet, crisp apples balanced the salty, soft-crumbly cheese; hazelnuts offered crunch and more richness. Crisp celery, attractively sliced on the bias, provided more textural contrast. A good dose of cider vinegar in the dressing contributed necessary tartness, and a spoonful of honey performed double duty, tempering the acidity of the vinegar and highlighting the saltiness of the cheese. We like to make this salad with sweet red apples such as Braeburn or Fuji, but any apple will do. If you prefer a very mild and mellow blue cheese, substitute Danish blue for the Roquefort; if you prefer a sharp and piquant one, try Stilton.
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 apples, cored and sliced very thin
4 celery ribs, sliced very thin on bias
2 heads red or green leaf lettuce (1 pound), torn into bite-size pieces
½ cup fresh parsley leaves, roughly torn
12 ounces Roquefort cheese, crumbled (3 cups)
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and chopped fine
1. Whisk vinegar, oil, honey, salt, and pepper in small bowl until combined. Toss apples, celery, and 2 tablespoons vinaigrette together in medium bowl; let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Toss lettuce, parsley, and remaining vinaigrette together in large bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide salad among individual plates; top each with portion of apple-celery mixture, Roquefort, and hazelnuts. Serve immediately.
Roquefort Salad with Fennel, Dried Cherries, and Walnuts
Omit apples and celery. Substitute red wine vinegar for cider vinegar. Reduce honey to 4 teaspoons. In step 1, whisk vinegar and honey in medium bowl. Mix in 1 cup dried sweetened cherries and microwave, covered, until cherries are plump, about 1 minute. Then whisk in oil, salt, and pepper. While still warm, add 2 thinly sliced small fennel bulbs and toss to combine; let cool completely. In step 2, substitute 2 thinly sliced small heads radicchio for parsley. Substitute 1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped fine, for hazelnuts.