Indian Summer Salad

 One of the things Grandma E did was squirrel away magazine pages and ad fliers that had recipes on them. Apparently, in 1985 Jell-O published a little 8 page booklet that featured 6 recipes using the new(ish) sugar free Jell-O. 

Jell-O is actually a pretty interesting company to read up on. It's actually been around since 1897. The company actually came out with an artificially sweetened version they called D-Zerta in 1923. However, starting in the 60's through early 80's Jell-O was losing popularity which led to a marketing push. They went back to old cookbooks and put recipes out on fliers along with coupons. They hired Bill Cosby as a spokesperson and launched a new Sugar-Free Jell-O sweetened with NutraSweet in 1984. This ad-campaign is probably where Grandma's little booklet came from. 

Several of recipes look good, but I decided to try the "Indian Summer Salad" because it just sounded intriguingly weird. The recipe uses tomato juices as the fluid to make up a box of orange jell-o and has corn and celery mixed in. I imagined it would taste like a sweeter gazpacho. 

Indian Summer Salad (serves 5)

• 1 3 oz package Orange Sugar Free Jell-O
• 3/4 cup boiling tomato juice (I used spicy V8)
• 1 Tbls vinegar
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 cup cold tomato juice (I used spicy V8)
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1/4 cup chopped celery (1 rib will do it)
• 2 Tbls canned green chilies

1. Completely dissolve gelatin in boiling juice. Add vinegar and chili powder.
2. Combine cold juice and ice to make 1 3/4 cups. Add to the gelatin, stirring until slightly thickened. Remove un-melted ice.
3. Add corn, celery and chilies. 
4. Chill or let stand until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon into individual dishes or a bowl and chill.

I wasn't wrong about the general taste but it actually kind of tasting reminiscent of a sweet barbecue sauce. The orange of the jell-o takes a backseat to the tomato but the sweetness is fairly intense. Ryan actually liked it. Thomas and I less so. However, I do like the idea of it and I'm going to try a version that uses unflavored gelatin.