Nancy’s Cranberry Salad

Nancy got this from Ma Wilson, Nancy’s mother’s friend from Janesville Wi in the 1950s

First you freeze whole cranberries and grind in a food processor until there are no large chunks. It may take several batches as you can easily double the recipe.

• 1 lb pkg whole cranberries (save all juice, ground frozen)
• 1 cup sugar

Stir together and let stand overnight

The next day. Heat water almost to a boil and dissolve gelatin in it. 

• 1/3 cup water
• 1 pkg knox gelatin

Dissolve. Pour over cranberry & sugar mixture and stir well

ADD:

• 8 oz can crushed pineapple, 
• 6 oz Chopped Nuts (optional)
• 1/2 pkg miniature marshmallows (or more if desired)

Mix above together well and FOLD in

• 1 carton cool whip (or more if desired)

If not sweet enough you may add more sugar.

Serve chilled

Can be frozen and used later. 

Blue Cheese Salad Dressing

I used Google to combine many recipes to make this one. I like this and it makes just enough for two small salads or one large one (or one salad for someone who loves blue cheese dressing).

Mix together breaking up the chunks

• 1Tbsp buttermilk
• 1Tbsp sour cream
• 1Tbsp mayonnaise 
• 1Tbsp blue cheese (Roquefort is good)
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• Pinch salt
• Pinch pepper
• Pinch sugar
• Pinch garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp chopped parsley

Makes enough for one salad. 

350 calories (by looking up the ingredients) Note: this is not diet food

Note. If you leave the buttermilk to the end, you can put more or less to adjust the thickness of the dressing. Thicker for wings or wedge lettuce. Thinner for tossed salad. 

Potato Salad

These quantities are from memory and may need adjusting:

Hard boil, remove shells and cool

• 3 eggs

then slice in half and set aside.

Combine these ingredients and toss together until everything is coated in the mayo.

• 2 c - red potatoes (baked in microwave, partially peeled  and cubed - 1/2")
• 2 c - sweet potatoes (prepared as the red potatoes except completely peeled)
• 3/4 c - mayonnaise (real mayonnaise)
• 2 stalks celery - diced or thinly sliced
• 1/4 c bread and butter pickles - diced (include some onions if they are in there)
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley - chopped

Sprinkle with

• 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder

Mix thoroughly and put in a bowl. Garnish with the egg halves and sprinkle the following on the eggs only:

• salt (to taste, you may not need any)
• black pepper
• paprika

Serve cold.

Nancy's Broccoli Salad

I got this from Nancy. Of course, Nancy doesn't do measuring so I've tried to estimate the quantities.

This salad has just the right balance of bitter, salty, sweet and crunchy with that smooth feel that I love. It makes a great dish to bring to a potluck or family dinner as it does not wilt and can travel without refrigeration for an hour or more. Plus it goes with most everything.

Mix these in a bowl

• 4 broccoli crowns - see below for instructions on how to chop the broccoli
• 12 oz dry salted roasted peanuts (without the red inner shells)
• 1 8 oz can sliced water chestnuts - slice these again into slivers
• 3 oz bacon bits - the ones made from real bacon
• 2 c dried cranberries (or substitute raisins)

Take the broccoli crown and slice it up. It's best to remove the small stems first. Then cut about 1/4 " down to remove just the outside of the flowers. Continue cutting the rest of the stem into 1/8 " slices. Where the stem is large, subdivide it into smaller sticks and cut the 1/8 " slices from each of those sticks.

The end result is all the flower parts cut off into a coarse powder of broccoli and the stems sliced 1/8" thick and no more than 3/8" in diameter.

Prepare the dressing:

• 24 oz Miracle Whip or similar salad dressing. 
• 1/4 c white granulated sugar
• 1/4 c white vinegar

Taste it now. You may want to adjust the quantities to make it sweeter or more tangy.

Then pour the dressing over the salad and stir together well.

This salad needs more stirring than most because the broccoli bits are so small and you want some of the dressing to coat each tiny broccoli morsel. But its not much susceptible to squashing. I use a rubber spatula.

Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours before serving. It keeps overnight if you want to make it the night before.

Spinach Salad

This makes a big bowl of salad. It's more than enough for 6-8 people. Look to the bottom and make the croutons ahead of time so they will be ready when the salad is:

Start the salad with the greens in a large salad bowl

• 1 1/2 bunch fresh spinach sliced with root end of stems removed.
• Drizzle a little olive oil
• Sprinkle some salt

Toss this to get the spinach covered with salt and oil.

Then add the following on top. I don't mix it in at all. It forms layers that folks mix together as they dip some out for their own plate:

• 3 tomatoes sliced somehow. (I suggest about 8 chunks per medium tomato.)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp dried basil flakes
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
• 1/4 c shelled salted pistachios (expensive but good)
• 1/4 c dried cranberries
• 1/4 c chopped dried apricots (slices 1/4 inch thick)
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh spearmint

Croutons

Make croutons ahead of time, but not too far ahead or they will lose their crispy.

• 1/2 unsliced loaf French bread (or sourdough or garlic bread)

Cut in cubes and spread on cookie sheet. I like large cubes about 3/4" to 1" on a side but there is not rule here. Use any size and shape you like.

Drizzle evenly with

• olive oil and/or melted butter

Sprinkle with:

• Garlic salt (or garlic powder and salt)
• Parsley flakes
• Crushed red pepper (gently)

Bake at 375 until crispy. Turn or stir occasionally

Dressing

You can make the dressing ahead of time and keep it cold.

Mix this all together in a jar or tall bowl:

• 1/2 c red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried yellow mustard powder
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• Juice of 1 lemon. 
• 2 Tbsp honey

Stir well and then as you stir add slowly

• 1/2 cup olive oil

Pour dressing over salad at the last minute. Serve cold. 

Layer Salad

Google "layer salad" and you will find a couple of million recipes. Here is one more.

Use a glass dish. I use a square baking pan 11 x 8 or so.

• 1/2 head of iceberg lettuce - slice 1/4 inch thick and then cut the long bits to be 2 or 3 inches max.
• red onion - cut 4 or 5 thin slices and quarter
• celery - thinly slice 1 stalk
• bacon - 1/3 pound cooked and crushed, OR 1 1/2 oz bacon bits (bacon bits are vegetarian)
• 8 oz grated Italian cheese - I buy a mixture of mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan and Romana.
• Salt and pepper.
• 12 oz frozen green peas - thaw on a towel so they don't collect water condensate
• 8 oz Miracle Whip salad dressing - You can use plain mayonaisse but its not as good. The Miracle Whip has some lemon or something tangy in it.
• sugar

Chop the lettuce and put it in the pan. Don't fill more than half-way to the top.

Sprinkle the onions, celery, bacon and grated cheese on top to form the layers. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top of that. Press it down gently to level and compact it.

Next layer is the green peas. They don't need to be completely thawed but try to get them as dry as possible with no ice crystals either. (Keep back three peas to adorn the top later.)

Use the salad dressing to "ice" the salad like a cake. You have to get a knack for spreading the Miracle Whip without exposing the peas underneath. Cover the whole top. It doesn't need to be thick. Just enough to hide the green of the peas. Sprinkle a tiny bit of white sugar over the top of the salad dressing.

Position the three peas in the center as a decoration. Sprinkle a few more bacon bits around to break up the white expanse as in the photo.

Let it chill for 2 to 24 hours to let the flavors blend.

Sliced Tomatoes Plus

The simplest things in life are sometimes the best. This one is quick and easy.

Ingredients should be cold and crisp (well ... not the spices or vinegar):

• A handful of whole fresh spinach leaves
• 1 large ripe tomato - cut two or three slices just shy of 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick out of the middle.
• 1 cucumber - Cut 2 inch length(s) from the fruit, peel about 1/2 of it, cut into 1/4 " square strips lengthwise.
• 5 or 6 Kalamata (greek) olives (or whatever kind you have)
• Feta cheese - a block about 1" x 1" x 1.5" (2 cm x 2 cm x 3 cm)
• 1/2 tsp dried basil (or fresh equivalent)
• balsamic and red wine vinegar
• salt
• pepper

Put the spinach leaves on a dinner plate to form a bed for the tomatoes.
The tomato slices go on top of that (1 layer thick)
Sprinkle the tomatoes with the basil, a little salt and pepper.
Sprinkle cucumber strips over the tomatoes and sprinkle a little salt (or seasoning salt) on them.
Pile up the olives to the side of the plate.
Crumble the Feta over the top. You want enough so that every bite has some of that salty, sour goodness in it.
Pour balsamic vinegar around the edges of the tomatoes but not on top of the salad. Pour the red wine vinegar, but only about half as much, around the same way. DO NOT put vinegar on top of the vegetables but don't obsess if a little gets on them anyway.

Eat and enjoy immediately before the spinach gets soggy..

Vesuvio Salad

This is inspired by a salad we had at a small Italian restaurant tucked back behind the Pizza Hut in a strip shopping center. It was sometime in the mid-1990's. We asked the owner/cook what was in it and he told us. Maybe he left something out. Maybe not but it tastes wonderful.

It's even better if you put all the ingredients together except the tomatoes and part of the fresh Basil and then let it sit for a few hours (or overnight). Then add in the tomatoes and some more fresh Basil. (Of course it might just be better because you knew you were waiting for it.)

Recipe serves four. It may take up to 20 minutes to prepare depending on how fast you are with a knife and how meticulous your cutting.

2” of the white of a leek, skin removed.	Cut into 2 inch pieces. Cut lengthwise into toothpick shapes. Each piece will be roughly 2 inches by 1/8 inch. The shape of the pieces is important to the taste.
2 thick slices Provolone Cheese
½ can palm hearts
2 or 3 roma tomatoes, fresh	Cut into marble sized bits.
2 Tbsp Fresh Basil, chopped plus a few whole leaves. (Dried Basil can be substituted.)	Add with all the ingredients above into a mixing bowl.
3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar	Pour over ingredients in bowl. Exact measures don’t really matter.
2 Tbsp Olive oil
Salt and Pepper	To taste

Mix gently but thoroughly together. Serve a large spoonful on a small plate to each of four people.