I remember my Grandmother Fern usually served a chilled jellied salad with dinner, more often than not a version of this Tomato Aspic.  Aspic salads were popular in the 60’s, but you can still find recipes for them on the internet.  Here is a version of her favourite recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups tomato juice
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 lemon slices
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper
• 2 envelopes unflavoured gelatine
• ½  cup tomato juice, chilled
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• a splash or two of your favourite hot sauce
• 1 ½ cups chopped raw vegetables (celery, green peppers, onions)
• salad greens for decorating

Now that I sit back and take a look at the ingredients for this salad, I can see how healthy it really is is though I certainly didn’t appreciate it at the time.  I was one of the world’s pickiest eaters, surviving mostly on peanut butter & honey sandwiches and apple sauce & cottage cheese. Well, at least I managed to get my protein!

Directions:

Combine the 3 cups of tomato juice with the celery, onion, lemon slices, hot sauce and salt & pepper in a small pot.  Simmer on the stove, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Strain to remove the vegetables and lemon slices.

Meanwhile, soften the gelatin in the chilled tomato juice and lemon juice for about 10 minutes.  Add the gelatin mixture to the warm, strained tomato juice, stirring until gelatin fully dissolves.

Chill the combined ingredients for an hour.

Once chilled, add the chopped vegetables.  Pour into a fancy mold and chill completely, ideally overnight.

I found this mould at a second-hand shop and it was just what I was looking for.  Engraved on the side is an indication that it will hold     3 ½ cups, but I managed to squeeze just a bit more into it to make this recipe.

There are a few secrets to removing a jelly salad from a mould like this.  First, run a bread knife around the inside edge of the mould.  Then, sit the mould in warm water for a minute or so.

Not too long, or the jelly will start to dissolve (like it did for me).

Next, put a plate, larger than the size of the mould, on top of the mould.  Finally, quickly turn over so that the jellied salad falls onto the plate.  It helps if the plate has been slightly moistened with a bit of water first so that the you can easily maneuver the jellied salad along the plate to centre it.

Serve on a bed of salad greens, but of course not to picky 10-year olds.