Salad Toppers

This week, I decided to mix things up a little.  Instead of making a full-blown molded jell-o salad, I made some tangy Knox blocks to spice up my boring greens.

In case you didn't know - I am a big fan of salad toppers. Huuuuge fan. My all-time favorite was Jean's Butterfly Salad Toppers from the 1972 Weight Watchers Program Cookbook. Go check them out!

I truly believe no salad should be boring. Ever. In fact, I have a tattoo on my bicep that says "No Boring Salads, Ever!!"

Just kidding, I would never do that! I'm not that wacky.

Anyway, Barbecue Knox blocks are a great way to add some flair to your sad, boring salad. These little cuties are courtesy of "The Joys of Jell-O" cookbook, and they are as easy as pie! Just dissolve your Knox in some tomato sauce and add some onion juice, Worcestershire sauce and a pinch of tabasco. Pour into a square pan and cut into cubes when solid.

Seriously...Look how cute they are!!!

So shiny too!!

But how do they taste??

THE VERDICT: They taste EXACTLY how you would expect them to taste. Like cold, gelatinous tomato soup on top of a salad. They also add a very disturbing and unexpected texture to the salad. Like the opposite of a crouton. But overall, I have eaten worse things - so I guess they were not too bad.

What is YOUR favorite way to top a salad?? Do tell....

Mousse Madness

Allow me to start off this post by saying that I loooooooooove cottage cheese. Always have. Always will.

But when you combine Cottage Cheese with Knox Gelatine - well, that's another story my friends.

This week's salad adventure is from the "Creative Cooking with Cottage Cheese" cookbook. I am guessing mid-1960's although the copyright date is not printed anywhere. How annoying.

Anyway, my "Cottage Tuna Mousse" salad started out innocently enough. I assembled some chopped veggies, some pimento-stuffed olives, and a can of tuna...

But - It was when I started putting together my gelatin mixture that things got a little ugly. You see, when you combine tomato juice, cottage cheese and sour cream with a packet of Knox gelatin and then suspend your other ingredients all up in there...well let's just say it ain't pretty.

In fact it might scare you a little.

Here is a view of the underbelly

But after chilling it for a few hours and unmolding it onto some salad greens, it literally becomes a thing of beauty...

Breathtaking, isn't it?

Try this angle on for size

Surprise!! Sometimes a jello mold that starts out as an ugly duckling might just turn out to be a swan! A beautiful, stinky, shiny, gelatinous swan.

As for the flavor, well that remains to be seen. So let's slice off a big ol' slab and find out...

FYI - It jiggles and smells really bad

THE VERDICT: Well I'll be honest, at first I was horrified to put this in my mouth. The texture and color were a bit off-putting to say the least. But once I talked myself into taking a bite, it really wasn't too bad. I could definitely taste the cottage cheese. And the tuna. And the olives. But you know what? It was a pretty good combo! Thus proving once again, cottage cheese makes EVERYTHING better!