German Salad

If you are from North Dakota or ever have visited anyone here, you probably know that people here eat well.

Maybe it's that most people here are German or Scandinavian.
Or, it's that the weather is often cold and people have more time to learn how to cook. {grin}
OR, it's just MY opinion that their cooking is good.

Regardless, when I married Dave and moved here, I was dumbfounded by all of the GOOD food that people cook here.

Did I say healthy?  Not necessarily.  But good, WOW!!  You've never tasted better.

And believe it or not, most of the foods here have at least SOME heavy whipping cream in them.  Whenever you ask what the "secret" ingredient is, you can be almost SURE it's gonna be cream.

Growing up, I never ever ate real cream except for once a year on my pumpkin pie.  And, I still can't bring myself to use it in my own cooking.  It just screams "20 extra lbs" every time I see it.  And I'm not usually obsessed with staying away from things with calories.

However, that having been said, we will go back to the original point of my rambling.  And that is the fact that the food here is awesome!  And I love all of the old time German recipes that I've learned to enjoy since I've been here.  Like Cheese Pockets, Kuchen, and Sweet Rice (which I'll have you know, I couldn't STAND before I moved here! The rice that is.  They know how to cook it).

So today I want to share a little of the wealth by letting you in on a yummy salad I learned to make here.  NO, nothing fancy or hard to make like the cheese pockets (I still need to learn those), but still just as delicious as any of the other recipes.

{And no, this one doesn't have cream in it!}

{Disclaimer:  If I have offended anyone by calling this a German Salad and you thought it was a, say, "Polish" salad, I am SO sorry.  I don't know what it's officially called so I named it myself!}

So here it is, my very favorite North Dakota GERMAN salad.

{It's really NOT much different from a regular salad, just a few extra ingredients.  But those extra ingredients make all of the difference in the world!!}

German Salad

Romaine or Iceberg lettuce (chopped into as small of pieces as you can)

Cucumbers, diced

Tomatoes, diced

Mushrooms, diced (can be optional, but I added these since I love mushrooms!)

Frozen Peas

Shredded Cheese

Boiled Eggs 

Mayonnaise

Salad Seasoning (I like to use McCormick's but you can use whichever you like best)

Chop all veggies into small pieces.  Add frozen peas and shredded cheese.  Add the chopped eggs last since you want them to hold together as much as possible.  Very last, add enough mayonnaise to make the salad moist.  Sprinkle seasoning on the top before serving.  Enjoy!

Note:  The people here usually layer the ingredients until they add the mayonnaise.  But since they still mix all of the ingredients together at the end, I see the layering as an extra step.  You can do it whichever way you'd like to though!! 

 

This salad is excellent for special occasions.  We like to use it for family outings and holiday dinners.  It's a great way to add flare to any dinner and I haven't met one person yet who doesn't like it!!

Hope you enjoy!!