June 23, 2010

Only in the south: congealed salad

I’m starting a new feature here on SBS called “Only in the south” to point out and highlight different aspects and encounters of daily life here in the sweet south. Of course these are just my opinions from my experiences…if you’ve had  similar things happen to you in other parts of the world, please share!

country cooking

My fun parents and I whiled away this past Saturday piddling around in a couple of cute little Tennessee towns. We stopped off for lunch at a place called The Apple Dish, an old-fashioned restaurant in the front of a large antique store. After perusing our menus for a moment (I’m still kicking myself for not trying an appetizer called portobello escapades), I decided on the pimento cheese sandwich. Well…after making sure that the pimento cheese was homemade of course. The waitress promptly told me that they were out of potato chips (which normally came with the sandwich) and “would I like to substitute a congealed salad?”

congealed salad and pimento cheese

She then sweetly began explaining to me what a congealed salad was and I politely stopped her and said “yes, please.” Only in the south would you be able to eat a gigantic rectangle of pink frozen goodness in lieu of a small bag of Wavy Lays. The pimento cheese was pretty good, but the congealed salad made the meal. Just so nobody is confused, this is not the same thing as jell-o salad (which I spoke at length about here). 

congealed salad after

And yes, I totally cleaned my plate. Had I been in the privacy of my own home, I would have licked it. And the ones of you who know me in real life can vouch for that!

A similar recipe to the one I enjoyed (if you’re interested)

Congealed Salad

Mix together: 8 oz cream cheese…2 T mayo…3/4 cup sugar…1 cup cool whip

Add: 1 can fruit cocktail with juice, 1 can crushed pineapple with juice, 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Pour into a pan or mold and freeze until it sets.

 Do any of you lovely readers have a liking for this frosty dessert? Or maybe a favorite recipe to share? Don’t keep us in the dark!