Vegan MoFo Day 16: Asheville Salad

If you made it past the terrible photo, congratulations! Even the best lighting isn't going to improve this. I've been scaring Yankees and confusing Europeans all month with congealed salads. We rarely ever eat these, but they are part of Southern food culture, so we're revisiting them during MoFo. Besides, you might have a Sunday School covered dish lunch coming up.

Today's lovely item is the Asheville Salad, once served at the long-closed Choices Restaurant on Main Street in Franklin, Tennessee. (I have no idea why it is called Asheville Salad.) Thanks to a little spiral bound book of recipes from the restaurant, we have been able to reproduce it for you. Unlike our earlier congealed salads, this one is savory.

1/2 can (approx 5 1/2 oz) condensed tomato soup

2 c water

1 0.3 oz envelope Natural Desserts unflavored vegan jel

6 oz vegan cream cheese

1 c vegan mayo or yogurt

1/2 c. chopped cucumber

1/4 c. chopped green bell pepper

1/2 c. chopped celery

1 t. grated onion

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Mix soup and water, and bring to a boil. Whisk in the vegan jel to dissolve. With a mixer, cream together the cream cheese and mayo. Add the soup/jel mixture. Stir in everything else. Pour into a casserole dish and chill until firm.

At the restaurant, this was sometimes served as a salad, and sometimes as a dip (with Ritz-type crackers). Heck, you could go all out and add some vegan shrimp. If you ever had a 1950s-style "shrimp mold," this tastes quite similar.