Retro Cottage Cheese Jello Salad

It's almost the season for outdoor Sunday potlucks!  Now here is what you could call a typical midwest "salad".  They love their sweet salads over there.  Even though we lived on the west coast, I grew up with this potluck pleaser and absolutely loved it.  It was both a potluck staple and a home table regular.  My kids when young - not convinced.  Mom usually made it with lemon jello and just pineapple, but with a sprinkle of dried lemon peel on top for garnish.  Lime was the 70's classic, and strawberry was very popular for the pink color.  The cottage cheese gives it more protein than your typical ambrosia style salad, (seriously, like at least 400% more), and it is nicely filling as well as a moderately sweet treat.  You can use any flavor of jello and fruit combo you like!  Mom favored sugar-free jello back then if I recall, and it does seem to set more firmly with that than with sugared gelatin.  Just make sure the fruit is well drained if canned, or just used for garnish on top if fresh.

I personally like to add an extra teaspoon or so of gelatin for insurance if the cottage cheese seems over dressed and too soupy to set well.  I do recommend allowing a good few hours to chill before serving.  (I remember as a child rushing out of the house to get to a potluck with only a partially set salad because either it hadn't chilled long enough or the pineapple hadn't drained enough, putting my mother in a great state of consternation.)  It was okay though, I was more than willing to eat less than perfectly set cottage cheese salad.

The very amusing thing to me now is that I absolutely refused, point blank, to ever allow any fruit to touch my cottage cheese as a child.  It must be plain.  And if mom tried to add a slice of canned pear or pineapple to it, then it was ruined and I wouldn't eat it.  But this salad with fruit totally mixed into the cottage cheese was just fine.  Jello and cool whip do wonders for the kid palate I guess!  (Though honestly, I still don't like fruit on my plain cottage cheese!)  Yes, you can make this with real whipped cream, and I tried that when I was first married.  It doesn't set as well as the cool whip.  I would suggest adding all the extra plain gelatin if using real whipped cream.  Sweeten with just a little powdered sugar, ¼-⅓ cup.  This is not a super sweet dessert salad like say, the Snickers salad or ambrosia salad.  And maybe it was where I first learned to appreciate the salty sweet combination that later became a love of mine.  I know I started dipping my french fries into my chocolate shake in high school.  Best thing ever. 

(I make half batches of this, weighing out the powder from half a jello packet.)  Depending on the region, this can be called cottage cheese fluff, cottage cheese salad, jello cottage cheese salad, lime salad, cottage cheese fruit salad, variations on fluff, dream, and stuff, etc.  This is a tasty "salad", makes a decent protein snack and unfortunately or not, works best with the original, less healthful ingredients.  Can you have it for breakfast?  Yes.  Yes you can.  I won't say anything.  If it weeps a little for leftovers, just drain it off or stir it back in, it's not unusual for this salad.  That's what the extra gelatin will help with too.  I grew up with Knox Blox®, so I like a more firmly set gelatin.  Today's equivalent name would be Jello Jigglers I think.

Cottage Cheese Jello Salad 
8 servings

24 oz. cottage cheese
2 8-oz. cans crushed pineapple, drained and squeezed**
1 15 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained well 
3 oz. box jello flavor of choice (we use dye free jello and I chose lime this time)
8 oz. whipped topping thawed (CocoWhip, TruWhip, and whipped cream are all acceptable alternatives to Coolwhip style non dairy toppings*)
1-1½ tsp plain gelatin (recommended for regular jello or just set insurance - it's needed for the jello I use which has a softer set)

Fresh lemon or orange zest for garnish, optional
Extra mandarins or fresh berries for garnish, optional 

In a mixing bowl, combine the cottage cheese and contents of the jello packet (and extra gelatin if using). Add the well drained pineapple mix through.  Fold in the whipped topping and drained mandarins, reserving a few for the top if desired.

Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.  

 * Note that Truwhip contains soy, Cocowhip will impart a slight coconut flavor and is not quite as fluffy, and real sweetened whipped cream will need extra stabilization. 

** The original recipe called for a 20oz can, I prefer to use two 8 oz cans for the full batch, as it helps ensure a better set even if you don't drain well enough. Plus, I just don't keep 20 oz cans on hand.

Cook's Notes:  In reflecting on why this tends to separate, it's probably because the gelatin is only bloomed and not fully dissolved.  It would be fairly simple to heat the gelatin with the crushed pineapple for a few seconds to dissolve in the microwave, or on the stove for half a minute.  It should also be noted that fresh pineapple will prevent gelatin from setting.  Fresh kiwi, papaya, mango, figs, and guava also contain enzymes that will break down gelatin. 

For a fluffy (and super filling) 1 cup serving (~8oz) with regular jello: 

 

With sugar free jello there would be 9g less sugars per serving and 35 fewer calories. 

 
This Sunday Funday we were asked to share a sweet or savory dish using either cottage cheese, paneer, tofu or similar.  Check out all the options that our bakers have shared:

 

• Cheese Paneer Tikka Open Sandwich in Air Fryer on Sourdough: Cook with Renu
• Corn & Paneer Parathas: Mayuri's Jikoni
• Cottage Cheese Muffins: A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cottage Cheese Wraps: Making Miracles
• Firecracker Tofu Broccolini Stir Fry: Food Lust People Love
• Homemade Paneer Recipe Ideas: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Paneer Tomato Rice: Sneha's Recipe
• Pasta with Green Beans and Ricotta: Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Potato, Cottage Cheese, & Caramelized Onion Pierogi: Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Retro Cottage Cheese Jello Salad: A Messy Kitchen 
• Tricolor Crispy Tofu Wrap: Mildly Indian