The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #110: Ribbon Salad

Howdy, Jigglers! I'm following a short-term plan of what JOJ recipes to do next (I call it the Great Jiggle Forward), and the next one in line is a Two-Way Recipe called Ribbon Salad. This layered salad consists of a layer of lime Jell-O topped by a thick layer of lemon Jell-O mixed with pineapple, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and whipped cream (more about that in a moment), all of which is topped by a layer of raspberry Jell-O.

I suppose the only reason this recipe is considered a Two-Way is due to the inclusion of mayo. It's absurd to me to imagine this served as an actual salad on greens, as it is pictured, as it would be similar to slapping a scoop of strawberry ice cream onto a bed of greens and calling that a salad. I know Jell-O has always wanted to bill itself as a healthful, light food, but this is a deceitful way to do it.

For once, I made this recipe with the listed ingredients, as I didn't want to spend the cash and time on enough lemons, limes, and raspberry juice (assuming I could even find it) to flavor all three layers, although I certainly think it would be delightful if you did. Some yellow and green food coloring would come in handy for that to get the visual effect. However, as I didn't have crushed pineapple, I used chunk pineapple. As layered gelatin methods go, this one is a walk in the park. That didn't stop me from messing it up, though! I had gotten my egg beaters and whipping bowl in the freezer early so I would be ready to include the whipped cream in the lemon layer, but after mixing in the cream cheese and the mayonnaise, something in my brain went "that's enough creaminess" and I layered in the layer sans whipped goodness.

I only realized my error after the whole dish was set, at which point it was too late to go back and fix the mistake. Instead, I served the whipped cream (unsweetened, so as to moderate the strong Jell-O flavorings) on top of the salad.

As you can see, I didn't manage to get a single clear picture of Ribbon Salad in its pan. The lack of whipped cream made the middle layer thinner than intended, which led to the big chunks of pineapple sticking out through the top layer. *facepalm*

It still looks pretty similar to the illustration, though! I was generally pleased with the outcome. The taste was fairly strong, but with the creamy elements in the middle, its pungency was diluted somewhat. For those curious, no, you cannot distinguish the taste of mayonnaise amongst all the other flavors. I do believe this dish would have been better with the whipped cream mixed in, so it's not completely fair to judge the recipe given my mistake, but on the other hand, it wasn't promising enough to want to redo the whole thing right away. Maybe I will someday if I'm really bored.

 

The thing that stuck out to me the most here was that the recipe makes a full 13"x9" pan. Unlike most Jell-O recipes, which generally make a mold big enough to be a small side dish for a medium group, Ribbon Salad could be served at a large meeting. I cut my pan into 12 squares, but it could just as easily have made 16 or 20 pieces. For a fancy garnish, I would recommend fresh raspberries.

The other great use of Ribbon Salad would be any event dealing with Ghana or Bolivia, since the colors are so similar to their flags. Of course, if you rearrange the order of the layers, you could easily make other flag patterns.

The Joys of Jell-O Recipe #129: Vegetables in Sour Cream

Howdy, Jigglers! Since I had some sour cream left over from the last JOJ recipe I made, I decided to make another sour cream-based recipe with sour cream and Jell-O: Vegetables in Sour Cream. Did it sound like a good idea? No. Did that deter me? Not a chance.

While I was unable to find tarragon vinegar, I did find the last bottle of tarragon on the shelf, so I let some tarragon steep in regular white vinegar for three days ahead of when I was going to make the gelatin, which worked just fine. I'd never used tarragon before, but now I highly recommend it. It's slightly sweet and minty, but also savory and vegetal. I bet it would make an excellent vinegarette for a spring salad.

 

Anyway, I did make a few substitutions and alterations to the ingredients in order to make the best dish possible. Firstly, I used lime juice to flavor some unflavored gelatin instead of lime Jell-O (because the sweetness of Jell-O would be very bad in this recipe). Furthermore, I used a spoonful of chicken bouillon powder instead of bouillon cubes. I also halved the quantity of each vegetable because I've always found that using the full amount makes the vegetables stick out of the gelatin too much and crowd in together unpleasantly.

The method for crafting Vegetables in Sour Cream is as basic and simple as it gets. You put your gelatin and bouillon in water, you heat the water, you add the lime juice. Then you chill, stir in the vegetables, and pour into the mold. Chill again.

And the result is...actually really good. The vegetables go well together, they stay nice and crisp in the gelatin, it's a pretty salad mold, and the gelatin matrix has a wonderful depth of flavor, what with the savory bouillon, the tarragon vinegar, the lime juice, and the sour cream. It's tangy and savory and all-around nice.

I really must commend General Foods on this vegetable mix. You couldn't pay me to sub in peas and carrots like the recipe mentions. Cucumber, scallions, radish, celery, and green pepper make a perfect spring combination. I also like that all of the veggies are diced or thinly sliced. That makes the mold much easier to cut and serve cleanly, and honestly it makes it less messy to eat.

Now look at that interior shot and tell me that halving the amount of vegetables wasn't the right thing to do. Of course, one could just as well double the amount of all of the gelatin ingredients and keep the original vegetable amounts, which would make double the amount of your mold, but with a better ratio of gelatin to vegetable.

So, overall, this recipe was very impressive. Other than the changes I made, I wouldn't alter anything, and I honestly would serve it at a spring luncheon or Easter or at a picnic as an honest-to-goodness vegetable side dish that just happens to contain gelatin. I know it seems miraculous, but it's true. Another thing I found nice about this dish is that you can use the leftover vegetables to make a nice crudites tray. So good on you, General Foods, for making a savory vegetable mold recipe that I don't even think would be that out of place in a modern Food & Wine magazine or something.