I’m sure every family has a Jell-O Salad recipe tucked away in an old cookbook somewhere, perhaps passed down from the generation that lived when Jell-O was first named by Pearl B. Wait’s wife, Mary, in 1897.
Ours is Lime Jell-O Salad and has become a tradition to make and eat every Thanksgiving.
Reading the ingredient list is far from appetizing though. Who ever came up with such a thing??? Marshmallows, lime jello, cream cheese and crushed pineapple are fine and dandy, but then it gets crazy. Let’s add a tub of Cool-Whip to that (Do we even know what Cool-Whip is?). Oh! And how about a bottle of 7-up! And mayonnaise, like, everything has to have mayonnaise.
What?!!! Was this the result of a recipe contest sponsored by Hellmann’s, Dr. Pepper, Kraft Cool-Whip and Jell-o?
Oh, and we’ll call it a salad.
Hello!
Definition of Salad from Oxford Dictionary
noun
cold dish of various mixtures of raw or cooked vegetables, usually seasoned with oil, vinegar, or other dressing and sometimes accompanied by meat, fish, or other ingredients: a green salad [mass noun]: bowls of salad
And it fits the bill…why?
I’m not sure. Still trying to figure that one out.
Hmmm…What else can I add…
It is green…
Maybe the inventor thought a name like that would make people think it was healthy.
Anyway, the traditional maker of our said traditional salad rebelled this year refusing to mix up such awful ingredients and serve it as food. Then I had an idea. How hard would it be to make a healthier version of a Jell-o Salad? (Don’t flip out, Grandma. :D )
I already had homemade marshmallows in the pantry leftover from our camping trip to the Wichita Mountains last weekend. The rest would be easy!
I decided on cherry instead of lime, since tradition was thrown to the wind anyway, and because I like cherries. I also couldn’t see using lime juice concentrate with pulp for the jello part, so cherry it is!
3/4 c. Old Orchard 100% cherry apple juice concentrate
3/4 c. water
4 c. homemade vanilla marshmallows
2 pkg. unflavored gelatin
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
10 oz. crushed pineapple, with juice
1 c. whipping cream
6 oz. Chobani Greek yogurt, cherry flavored
1 12 oz pkg frozen cherries, thawed
Combine juice concentrate and water. Heat one cup of the mixture along with 2 cups marshmallows.
Dissolve 3 pkg of gelatin in the remaining juice.
Add the cream cheese and whisk until combined.
Don’t you love the snowflakes on Philadelphia’s seasonal packaging? :)
There might be flecks of cream cheese that won’t whisk in – don’t worry about it.
Trust me, it disappears.
Stir in gelatin.
Whip cream and fold in the yogurt…
And then the rest of the marshmallows. ( I cut them into bite sized pieces using kitchen scissors. )
Add cherries and pineapple. Isn’t that gorgeous?!!!
Stir in the gelatin/cream cheese mixture and pour into a serving bowl to chill and set.
Look what surfaced under the Chobani lid as I was creating this recipe -
Just add good.
Uh-uh! That’s my motto! :)
We shall see how everyone likes it on Thursday! (Personally, I think it’s fabulous… only it’s been talking to me from the refrigerator all day long. I ignore it. Of course.)
Happy Thanksgiving! Safe travels, thankful smiles, and happy eating to you all!
