Sweet, tart and nutty, a classic to the core

Let’s be honest: The thrill of going apple-picking each fall is less about the actual apples and more about getting out of the city, feeling a more brisk temperature and marking the end of clothing-lite summer. It also doesn’t hurt to have an excuse to eat doughnuts and drink beer.

Every year, we pick those bushels of apples and say we’re going to use them for pies and baked goods, but half of them rot by the time we get around to using them. Yes, fall apples are great when baked with cinnamon and butter and all the usual suspects, but what I love most is eating good, in-season apples raw. Out of hand is nice, of course, but that’s for your everyday apple. When you get your hands on some spectacular specimens like, say, a Mutsu or Melrose, both in farmers markets right now, it’s time to switch up the routine.

To dress up the apples a bit, throw yourself a curve ball and make this salad. I start by shaving the apples, with their skins on, on a mandoline so you get super-thin slices that shatter, rather than crunch, in your mouth. The dressing is an abrasively tart one — just lime juice and Chinese black vinegar — but it plays well off the sweet-tart apples in markets now. Cilantro is added for herbal freshness that feels punchier than parsley, and freshly shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano adds necessary fat and saltiness.

Lastly, taking a cue from my favorite childhood snack of apples with peanut butter, I scatter toasted peanuts over the apples. The peanuts are tossed with a little toasted sesame oil, which oddly makes the peanuts taste more like peanuts. A final dusting of lime zest drives home the bitter-acid punch of the citrus in the dressing. It’s an indelicate balance of flavors, but one that refreshes and wakes you up, shaking you out of that warm pie and crisp routine.