Tomato Soup Vegetable Salad

My grandmother's favorite salad from the 1960s, decidedly retro, in fact, "double retro" for today's real-food sensibility. But does it remain a personal favorite? You bet.

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Does a Retro Salad Deserve a Place in Today's Recipe Box?

Back in the 1960s when this was my Gramma Kellogg’s favorite summer salad, the "salad" sections in our church cookbooks listed one jello salad after another, many with marshmallows and Cool Whip. Some "salads", eh? At least Gramma's salad included some vegetables, albeit in skimpy amounts, a tablespoon of onion, half a green pepper, half a cucumber, a touch of celery, and so on.

But truth be told, I loved her salad too and made it at least once a summer, ignoring its calorie-laden jiggly goodness.

Then some time in the 1990s, I adapted Gramma's salad for all the new-fangled "diet" and "healthy" ingredients: sugar-free gelatin, low-fat tomato soup, reduced-fat cream cheese and reduced-fat salad dressing, feeling mighty virtuous, no doubt.

Today I would scoff at a recipe calling for so many processed-food ingredients: whole foods it is for me. In defense, I did also increase the vegetables many-fold.

But again, truth be told, I still love my version of Gramma's salad and still make it at least once a summer. I think of it as "double retro" – first for the processed foods of the 1960s, then for the low-fat craze of the 1990s. But I still make it.

And I also still follow the practice of updating long-time favorite recipes by reversing the proportions. What was once Gramma’s jello-cream-cheese-salad- with-a-sprinkling-of-veggies is transformed into a virtual garden of multi-colored vegetables held together by a light-flavored creamy gelatin.

And I'm not alone in liking it, although I no longer tell people what's in it. It's a favorite at potlucks and barbecue suppers. Its pale salmon color and crunchy coolness contrast especially well with grilled meat.

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TOMATO SOUP VEGETABLE SALAD

Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Chill time: 4 hours or more
Makes 8 cups

GELATIN
• 2 small (.3oz) packages sugar-free lemon gelatin
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup cold water

TOMATO SOUP MIXTURE
• 1 11-ounce (305g) can reduced-fat tomato soup such as Campbell's Healthy Request
• 3 ounces (85g) reduced-fat cream cheese such as Philadelphia Neufchatel
• 1 cup (240g) light salad dressing such as Miracle Whip Light (no mayo, sorry)_

VEGETABLES
• 2 cups finely chopped celery
• 1 cup finely chopped onion, preferably Vidalia or another sweet onion
• 3 bell peppers (1 green, 1 red and 1 yellow), finely chopped
• 1 English cucumber, finely chopped

GELATIN In a large bowl (the one that will eventually hold all the salad), dissolve the gelatin in boiling water, stirring until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in the cold water and set aside.

TOMATO SOUP MIXTURE Separately, heat the tomato soup, cream cheese and salad dressing in a medium saucepan, stirring until combined and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool.

VEGETABLES Meanwhile, chop all the vegetables, taking the time to chop them finely.

COMBINE Stir the Tomato Soup Mixture into the Gelatin, stir until well combined. Add the vegetables as they're prepped.

SET Pour or scoop into a pretty bowl, a quart jar or another container. My grandmother used a gelatin mold, it helps to lightly oil it before filling.

ALANNA's TIPS Don’t be tempted to substitute mayonnaise for Miracle Whip – only salad dressing works in this particular dish. Do chop the vegetables finely. It takes just a bit more time and makes the salad hold together better. If they seem extra-wet, while you're chopping, collect the vegetable pieces in a colander in the sink to drain off excess liquid. The thin skin of an English cucumber doesn’t require peeling and adds both color and fiber. To use a garden cucumber, if the skin is tough, peel it entirely or partially, leaving "thin green stripes". Halve the cucumber lengthwise, scrape out the seeds in the center, then finely chop the outer flesh.

NUTRITION INFORMATION for TOMATO SOUP VEGETABLE SALAD Per half-cup: 78 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 7mg Cholesterol; 241mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 1g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 2g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS Old Points 2 & WW Points Plus 1 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 3 CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 2/3 cup (2g protein). This recipe has been "Alanna-sized".

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More Favorite Vegetable Salad Recipes

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~ Favorite Summer Salad Recipes ~
~ more salad recipes ~

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ cream cheese recipes ~
~ bell pepper recipes ~
~ cucumber recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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