Recipes from Ollie J/Roa S -- Seven Layer Salad

I don't know if this recipe is southern, Mormon, or if it truly transcends cultural, religious, and/or regional boundaries. I've seen it appear at gatherings of good church women around the country. Most recently it made an appearance during the events surrounding my father's mother's services (Grandma Roa) -- out in the heartland of Utah. It was as good as I remembered, or maybe the Miracle Whip, the cheese and peas, and the bacony goodness added to the gratitude we all had for the services of the good Relief Society sisters to the family of one of their most stubborn lost lambs.

If you eat this with funeral potatoes, you don't feel quite so guilty, or so sad. Add a chaser of lime Jell-o salad, or ambrosia, and you've had a very cliched Utah/Mormon meal.

Seven Layer Salad

1 head lettuce (iceberg), chopped fine
1 cup celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped *
1 small onion, chopped
1 package (10 oz.) cooked (baby) frozen peas
2 cup (16 oz.) Miracle Whip Salad Dressing, with 2 tablespoons sugar (white) **
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled (used 2 packages pre-cooked Oscar Meyer, heated and crumbled, so not as much bacon)
1/2 lb. cheddar cheese, grated
(topped with slivered blanched almonds)

In a large bowl, layer above ingredients in order.
Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Seal well with salad dressing before refrigerating. (used Saran wrap)

* I used 1/2 a green bell pepper from another recipe and added a cup of shredded carrots for more veggies and to add some color.

** When assembling my shopping list, I didn't pay enough attention to the cups and ounces needed for the Miracle Whip. It's not a standard pantry item for me any more, so I grabbed a tiny jar in the store. Turns out, that's only a 8 oz./1 cupper, so I was seriously short for the recipe. A mid-day run to the local CVS and 711 didn't yield any Miracle Whip, so I trudged home to improvise. What I did have in the fridge was a container with a bit of horseradish sandwich dressing in it (about 3 tablespoons), and some olive oil. So into a container when the Whip and horseradish sandwich dressing, and then I started whipping in olive oil. About 6 tablespoons or more of oil later, the dressing thinned out enough to yield about 2 cups of topping. The horseradish dressing actually complimented the Whip, and added a tang to the salad that I enjoyed.

I made two salads out of the ingredients. The larger bowl, I layered as you normally would. In the smaller of the two bowls, I added a final layer of slivered almonds.

Just about as good as I remembered. I could have added a LOT more bacon to get to the culinary delights of my childhood, but I'm more aware now of what I'm eating.