Cheap Eats

With the holidays coming up I know I am going to be getting requests for one of my friends’ and family’s favorite dish, Seven Layer Salad.  I am pretty sure there are a few versions of this salad around, but this is the one we love.  This salad is as simple as it sounds.  If possible, you want to make it in a glass bowl because part of its appeal is how great it looks.

The first layer is the lettuce.  I usually use a mix of iceberg and romaine because iceberg has absolutely no nutritional value and romaine adds a little extra greenery.  The lettuce is going to be your biggest layer, about 3/4 of the salad.

Next is a layer of celery.  Add as much or as little as you like. Because it’s also green it doesn’t really affect the look of the salad.  The celery add a little extra crunch, but just make sure not to overdo it.  Next is radishes, yum! You will need either a whole bag of the prewashed or about 1 to 1 1/2 bunches. I just slice them.  Then chop up one bunch of green onions.  Again, like the celery, make sure not to overdo it or they will overpower the salad.

Now comes the good layers. :)  The bacon layer is one of the keys to what makes this salad so awesome.  When making a large salad you’ll need a whole package of bacon. Chop it up and sprinkle it on. You can use any variety you like.  Turkey bacon is good if you are trying to go healthy.  The next layer is peas, and always use frozen.  Just thaw them out in the microwave and drain real good.  You can kind of dry them out a little on a kitchen towel. Make sure the peas cover the top of the entire salad.

The salad dressing is next.  You can use either ranch, Miracle Whip or mayo.  Personally, I love it with mayo!  The low fat mayo is good, but I don’t really like the fat free kind.  You’ll need to use a spatula to spread it all over the peas.  Pour it on in kind of large piles and then very slowly spread it around completely covering the peas.  Then sprinkle on a layer of shredded cheddar cheese, completely covering the dressing.

That’s it! Chopping the veggies can be a little time consuming, but as you can tell, this salad is super easy to make and very inexpensive.  It should run you less than $15 and can feed like 10 to 15 people.  It’s a very impressive looking dish to bring to all your holiday dinners that will be a sure hit with everyone!