Recipes Of The Damned–July 10, 2000: Summer Salad

Jul.24, 2008 in Recipes, F&B

From Joys of Jell-O, General Foods, late 1960s.

Today’s recipe probably doesn’t taste too bad, I will acknowledge up front; but it is offered in tribute to a widespread sense of disapproval for Jell-O. This is hardly a unanimous distaste, even among this column’s readership; Jell-O is still a viable product easily found on grocery shelves. But more and more, as I read news, culinary writing, and a wide variety of magazines and fiction, I see people commenting on Jell-O, and especially on molded vegetable salads, with distaste and derision. A recent banner ad on a website, touting discounted travel arrangements, hints that the benefit of getting easily and cheaply to the family reunion is obtained at the cost of having to sample Auntie’s green-bean-and-Jell-O salad. Foodies distinguish their fresh, farmer’s-market produce creations from rubbery molds and tomato in aspic.

But this is not simply a 1980s or 1990s phenomenon. Today we may associate Jell-O salads with the 1950s and 1960s, but even then cooks and diners regarded them with suspicion. I offer as evidence Peg Bracken’s Appendix to the I Hate to Cook Book, published in 1966, in which she titles one chapter “Greenery, What To Do With The; What Should You Tell Your Children About Molded Salads?” Obviously, today’s youths are not the first generation likely to be frightened by an improperly introduced tuna mold! After describing the all-too-typical church or community supper, where other dishes practically leap out of the serving dishes while the molded salad sits, untouched and quivering slightly, she notes:

The moral is plain. Molded salads are best served in situations where they have little or no competition.

One reason is that many people don’t trust molded salads, because of past experience. Like television, gelatin is too often a vehicle for limp leftovers that couldn’t make it anywhere else.

Also, in a molded salad you’ll often run across marshmallows, Brazil nuts, and similar goodies, that somehow escaped the dessert corral.

Bracken, however, is writing not for the enthusiastic Martha Stewart or Betty Crocker wannabe, but for the reluctant but resigned cook, who cannot weasel out of her cooking duties but would like to make them as easy as possible while still nourishing and even satisfying the diners—not the least important of whom is the reluctant cook herself. In this accommodating mood, Bracken hastens to note the great advantages molded salads offer those who hate to cook: they take little effort; they’re almost impossible to ruin; and they can be made well in advance, without any last-minute fussing or preparation. To crown it all, she notes, “One molded salad serves many people, because they seldom go back for seconds.”

If you fix Summer Salad for your guests, they also may not go back for seconds. They may not go for firsts. If faced with one of the shimmering creations pictured below, they may insist it’s too beautiful to eat. They’re probably lying.

Summer Salad

1 package (3 oz.) Jell-O Lemon Gelatin

1/2 teaspoon salt or onion salt

1 cup boiling water

3/4 cup cold water

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 small tomato, cut into thin wedges

1/4 cup sliced celery

1/4 cup sliced quartered cucumber

few slivers green pepper

dash of oregano (optional)

Dissolve Jell-O Gelatin and salt in boiling water. Add cold water and vinegar. Chill until very thick. Fold in remaining ingredients. Pour into a 3-cup or 1-quart mold. Chill until firm. Unmold on crisp greens. Garnish with more tomato, if desired. Makes about 3 cups, or 6 side salads.

Note: if desired, substitute 1/2 cup sliced radishes for tomato or 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower for cucumber.

From Joys of Jell-O, General Foods, late 1960s.

Side Dishing

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