The day finally came….. Today is the day that I picked a savory gelatin salad out of the jar. Luckily (…sort of I guess) it was a simple salad that just mixes some raw veggies into the gelatin mixture that is flavored with vinegar and grated onion. So no crazy deviled egg or seafood gelatin salads yet. This recipe hails from the 1950s Joys of Jell-O and it is called simply Vegetable Salad.
I will admit that the overall flavor was not as offensive to my sensibilities as I thought it was going to be. Now do not take that as me climbing to the top of a mountain to yell “COME ONE AND ALL! JELL-O SALADS ARE NOT THAT BAD! LETS START BRINGING THEM BACK!”. It just wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to taste as it tasted more like a bottled vinaigrette that has been sweetened a tick too much. The congealed texture still is a little weird.
The Vegetable Salads pictured in Joys of Jell-0.
My salad ended up much more densely packed than the one pictured in the cookbook. I suspect that they double the gelatin for the ones in the picture as the molds they used were very obviously a six cup mold and mine just fit a three cup mold. So if you want the vegetables to look more suspended in the gelatin then double the Jell-O accordingly.
So if you are adventurous or maybe just a little crazy here is the recipe for Jell-O Vegetable Salad. Let me know what you thought of it if you do!
Vegetable Salad
A savory gelatin salad that mixes raw vegetables into a Jell-O flavored with vinegar and onion
Ingredients
- 1 3 oz. package of Lemon Jell-O
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup boiling water
- 3/4 cup cold water
- 2 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider but white vinegar would work too.)
- 1 tablespoon grated onion
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup grated carrots
- 1 cup finely sliced celery
- 3 cup gelatin mold or six individual
Directions
- Into a mixing bowl, dissolve gelatin and salt in the boiling water.
- Add the cold water, vinegar, onion and pepper.
- Chill in refrigerator until very thick. According to the cookbook, very thick should take about 1 hour and 30 minutes. You will know when it is ready when a spoon can be dragged through it and it leaves a definite mark.
- Once it is to the right consistency, mixed the vegetables into the mixture and pour into a three cup mold or six individual molds.
- Chill until firm and unmold.
Notes: You can use any combination of vegetable as long as it measures out to somewhere between one and two cups. Some suggestions according to cookbooks are:
- 3/4 cup finely chopped cabbage, 3/4 cup finely chopped celery, 1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper and 2 tablespoons diced pimiento
- 3/4 cup diced tomato, 1/2 cup diced cucumber and 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped cabbage, 1/2 cup sliced stuffed olives and 2 tablespoons parsley.
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced radishes, 1/2 cup chopped celery and 1/4 thin onion rings.
Quaint Cooking 
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