Sea Breeze Spinach Mold

“Since this salad is so packed full of delicious ingredients, unmolding might seem a frightful task. Here’s a helpful tip: Once your congealed salad is molded, take a bowl or a casserole dish and fill it with hot (not boiling) tap water. Gently submerge the bottom of the mold into the hot tap water for 5 to 10 seconds. This process loosens the outer edges, making it easy to invert and slide out onto your serving dish.” 

Southernliving.com

Sea Breeze Spinach Mold
Southernliving.com

¼ cup cold water
1 (10 ½-oz.) can beef broth
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup salad dressing (such as Miracle Whip)
1 medium onion, quartered
1 (10-oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered
½ pound cooked bacon, crumbled

1. Pour the cold water and 1/4 of the cup beef broth into blender and sprinkle with gelatin. Let stand until gelatin is softened, 3 minutes. Heat remaining beef broth in a saucepan over high heat to boiling point. Pour into blender. Secure lid on blender, and remove center piece to allow steam to escape. Place a clean towel over opening. Process at low speed until gelatin is dissolved, using a rubber spatula to push gelatin granules into the broth mixture. Add salt, lemon juice, and salad dressing and process until well blended.

2. Add the onion and cover. Process at high speed until onion is chopped. Add the spinach and eggs and cover. Process at high speed just until eggs are coarsely chopped.

3. Stir in the bacon and pour into a lightly greased (with cooking spray) 6-cup mold. Chill until firm, 4 hours. Unmold and garnish with cherry tomatoes.

Comments: It’s a real shame that this isn’t worth recommending, because this salad has, as the quote above states, so many delicious ingredients. Unfortunately, this particular combination falls flat.

I have several ideas that might improve this recipe. The first is to alter the ratio of mayonnaise to spinach to stop the salad from tasting too fatty and feeling too heavy. This could be accomplished by either significantly reducing the amount of mayonnaise, changing the brand of mayonnaise (see note below), or increasing the amount of spinach.

While preparing the salad, I altered the method in three small ways. I reduced the amount of bacon and sprinkled it on top just before serving it, because the original amount seemed excessive and soggy bacon is always a bad idea. In addition, I substituted chopped tomatoes for the cherry tomatoes because I wanted it to be easier to enjoy some tomato with every bite.

A cultural note: It took me a moment to realize that “salad dressing” meant mayonnaise! Too funny. Because I’ve been enjoying the content produced by It’s a Southern Thing, I decided to use Blue Plate, the mayonnaise that won their blind taste test. In comparison to Cains, my favorite brand in New England, Blue Plate has a very high percentage of egg yolk, which gives it a richer taste and creamier texture.

Blue Plate is sold only in Southern states, while Cains is sold only in New England, so they are representative of two (sometimes very) different food cultures. In New England, most of the classic entrees and their ingredients are lightly-spiced and fairly mild, while in the South, I’ve found that almost every entree and many individual ingredients – including Blue Plate – contain either more seasoning or a higher fat content than their Northern equivalents. I say this as an observation, not a complaint!

Lastly, does anyone recognize this mold? (Hint: A lucky guess, perhaps?) I almost never buy holiday-themed cooking utensils, but I purchased this in a bundle, and I wanted to try it. I was hoping that the garnish would be enough to camouflage the shape, but I don’t think that I was entirely successful.