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.