I was invited to a small soiree recently and, of course, I could not show up empty handed. What to take? A bottle of wine, to be certain. But what else? Watergate Salad! I decided to take Watergate Salad. I love this. My mother used to make it and it was always a hit. A refreshingly delightful salad that can be served on the lunch or dinner buffet, or on the dessert buffet. It works in all scenarios. In this case, we served it with dinner. This is an old standard but one that stands the test of time. It is very easy to assemble, so let's get started.
Here is the salad in a bowl and ready to be taken to the party. I added three maraschino cherries and a sprinkling of chopped pecans on top, but this is not a requirement. You can dress it however you like or serve it plain. However you serve, it will be delicious.
Here is the ingredient list. We will start with the pecans and move clockwise. You will need:
One-half cup chopped pecans
Three cups mini marshmallows
Green food coloring, gel or drops
Twelve ounces of thawed Cool Whip®
One 3.4 ounce box of instant pistachio pudding mix
One twenty ounce can of crushed pineapple
First up, drain the pineapple. Make this your first step. It can be draining while you are doing other things. Drain the juice into a container because we are going to use three tablespoons of it later on.
I drained the pineapple juice into a stainless steel mixing bowl, but any receptacle that works for you will be fine.
Empty the pistachio pudding mix into a large mixing bowl and add the drained pineapple.
Mix these two ingredients together by hand. No need for the electric mixer in this recipe.
Add green food coloring. If you are using the gel food coloring (which is what I use), add about an inch of coloring as in the picture above. If you are using the bottles with the dropper spouts, add five drops of coloring. Stir this until the food coloring is thoroughly mixed in.
Add the Cool Whip® on top of the pineapple and pistachio mixture and blend thoroughly by hand.
It was not green enough for me, so I added a little more green food coloring.
Thoroughly mix in the food coloring so there are no streaks. A few words about the food coloring. It is rather subjective. If you want your salad to have a darker shade of green, add more. Lighter shade, stop. You will experiment with this and decide how much you need based on your personal taste.
Add three cups of mini marshmallows and stir to combine.
Add one-half cup chopped pecans. A rough chop is fine. Actually, for this recipe, it is preferred. You want enough pecans so that they are in every bite but not so much that they take over. I find that one-half cup is just right. After you have mixed in the pecans, add three tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice to the salad and stir to combine.
Transfer to a clean stainless steel bowl and cover tightly. Place into the refrigerator overnight.
About one-half hour before leaving the house, remove from refrigerator and place salad into a serving dish of your choice. Garnish as you see fit or leave plain as we discussed above.
Cover with a lid or cling wrap, and set off for your party.
You will find many variations on this recipe. Some drain the pineapple. Some do not. Some use chopped walnuts. Some use pecans. Others use more or lesser amounts of marshmallows. This recipe I am sharing with you, in my opinion, is the very best of them all. The quantity of ingredients in my recipe has been perfected over the years. So I can assure you that if you use this recipe, it will be a hit every time you serve.
Here is the salad in a bowl and ready to be taken to the party. I added three maraschino cherries and a sprinkling of chopped pecans on top, but this is not a requirement. You can dress it however you like or serve it plain. However you serve, it will be delicious.
Here is the ingredient list. We will start with the pecans and move clockwise. You will need:
One-half cup chopped pecans
Three cups mini marshmallows
Green food coloring, gel or drops
Twelve ounces of thawed Cool Whip®
One 3.4 ounce box of instant pistachio pudding mix
One twenty ounce can of crushed pineapple
First up, drain the pineapple. Make this your first step. It can be draining while you are doing other things. Drain the juice into a container because we are going to use three tablespoons of it later on.
I drained the pineapple juice into a stainless steel mixing bowl, but any receptacle that works for you will be fine.
Empty the pistachio pudding mix into a large mixing bowl and add the drained pineapple.
Mix these two ingredients together by hand. No need for the electric mixer in this recipe.
Add green food coloring. If you are using the gel food coloring (which is what I use), add about an inch of coloring as in the picture above. If you are using the bottles with the dropper spouts, add five drops of coloring. Stir this until the food coloring is thoroughly mixed in.
Add the Cool Whip® on top of the pineapple and pistachio mixture and blend thoroughly by hand.
It was not green enough for me, so I added a little more green food coloring.
Thoroughly mix in the food coloring so there are no streaks. A few words about the food coloring. It is rather subjective. If you want your salad to have a darker shade of green, add more. Lighter shade, stop. You will experiment with this and decide how much you need based on your personal taste.
Add three cups of mini marshmallows and stir to combine.
Add one-half cup chopped pecans. A rough chop is fine. Actually, for this recipe, it is preferred. You want enough pecans so that they are in every bite but not so much that they take over. I find that one-half cup is just right. After you have mixed in the pecans, add three tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice to the salad and stir to combine.
Transfer to a clean stainless steel bowl and cover tightly. Place into the refrigerator overnight.
About one-half hour before leaving the house, remove from refrigerator and place salad into a serving dish of your choice. Garnish as you see fit or leave plain as we discussed above.
Cover with a lid or cling wrap, and set off for your party.
You will find many variations on this recipe. Some drain the pineapple. Some do not. Some use chopped walnuts. Some use pecans. Others use more or lesser amounts of marshmallows. This recipe I am sharing with you, in my opinion, is the very best of them all. The quantity of ingredients in my recipe has been perfected over the years. So I can assure you that if you use this recipe, it will be a hit every time you serve.
