Salad, Midwest-style

Jell-o salad comes in many forms. This is ours. 

"Oh, shoot. I bought the wrong pudding for my jell-o salad."

Shortly after I said this to myself last night, I realized how strange it must sound to anybody who wasn't raised believing that gelatin is what makes food a salad and that all dinners should be baked in a 9x13" pan covered for 40 minutes and then uncovered for 10 minutes. 

Jell-O Salad is a regional phenomenon that you will find at every Lutheran and Methodist potluck in the Midwest.  Wikipedia tells me that the Mormons must be having some killer potlucks, because Jell-O salad can also be found in Utah. 

There are so many variations on Jell-O salad.  Some are common, others less so.  Every family seems to have their own preferred Jell-O salad.  I liken it to a family crest. A gelatinous family crest.  Pudding, Cool Whip, and canned or frozen fruit are common additions to the Jell-O base.  I have never encountered a Jell-O salad with actual vegetables, but James Lilek's Gallery of Regrettable Food suggests that these did at one time exist in the '70s.  Thank goodness the '70s are long gone, because that just sounds crazy!  You can't put vegetables in a Jell-O salad!

Pictured above is the Mandarin Orange Jell-O salad, which contains two kinds of pudding.  My family also has a rather fancy three-layer jell-o salad.  It has a crust and cream cheese and everything!  Why, if the third layer didn't contain Jell-O, it would practically be a dessert.  But, lo! It is not.  Jell-O salad is always a side dish, right alongside mashed potatoes and corn (it's important to get your starch; long winter ahead, you see). 

Oh, and don't worry.  I had a box of the correct pudding at home all along. Phew! Crisis averted!