Wednesday, March 17, 2010

RECIPE: St. Patrick's Day Ambrosia Salad

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
We had a St. Patrick's Day potluck lunch today at work, so I decided to make my favorite potluck dish, Ambrosia Salad! I grew up in the Midwest and we used to have Ambrosia Salad all the time at potlucks, BBQ's and pretty much any other dinner event. Ambrosia has got to be one of the easiest foods to prepare next to toast. For St. Patrick's Day I decided to make my Ambrosia a bit more festive, so I added some green food coloring to the Cool Whip.


The next key ingredients are the mini marshmallows and shredded coconut.



The next ingredients include Crushed Pineapple, Fruit Cocktail, Mandarin Oranges and Maraschino Cherries. I just love how all the ingredients for this dish come in either a bag or a can. Probably not the most nutritious, but it is mighty tasty and it is so easy to make.

The first step is to let the Cool Whip thaw a bit since it is stored in the freezer section of the grocery store. Once it has thawed a bit, empty the Cool Whip in a large mixing bowl. Since this is my special St. Patrick's Day recipe, I added 3 to 4 drops of green food coloring. Mix well.



Now comes the easy part. Start dumping all the other ingredients into the bowl and mix well. I usually add about 1/3 cup of milk to make it a bit creamier. After you have mixed all the ingredients together, place the bowl in the fridge for a couple hours or overnight. You can serve and eat as soon as you have mixed all the ingredients together if you don't have the time to chill it in the fridge, but it tastes better if you allow it to set and chill for awhile in the fridge.



I can't count the number of times I have made Ambrosia Salad. I lovingly like to call it "White Trash" salad, because Ambrosia just sounds too 1980's Dynasty to me. But no matter what you call it, be it Ambrosia, White Trash, or fruity-coconutty-cool-whippy-salad; I guarantee you your friends will love it!

Ambrosia Salad Recipe

1 (15.25 oz) can fruit cocktail
1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges
1 (10oz) jar maraschino cherries
1 (8oz) can crushed pineapple
2 (8oz) container frozed whipped topping, thawed
1 cup shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/3 cup milk

1. Add thawed whipped topping to a large mixing bowl. Add 3 to 4 drops of green food coloring to the whipped topping and mix well.

2. Drain and rinse the fruit cocktail, mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, and crushed pineapple. Once drained, add the fruit to the whipped topping.

3. Add miniature marshmallows and shredded coconut to the mixture and mix well.

4. Place bowl in the fridge and let the salad set and chill for a couple hours or overnight.

5. Serve and enjoy!!