Alice in the Kitchen

Milky Way Salad – a taste of Minnesota

Amanda is my first friend from Minnesota.  I’ve learned a lot about Minnesota from her, and I’ve learned perhaps the most about Minnesota cuisine.  There’s “hotdish” (what a redneck might call a casserole), “glorified rice” (us rednecks wouldn’t have a name for rice that you eat as a dessert), and best of all “Snickers Salad.”  Amanda gave me the cookbook from her grandmother’s church, and it had at least three recipes for this delicacy.  God bless the Midwest.  I would have never thought anything that included candy bars as an ingredient could be considered a salad, but in the Midwest, it can.  In fact, as far as I can tell, there’s really only two kinds of salads in Minnesota.  Those made with candy bars and those made with Jell-o.

I’d say the joke is on those of us eating salads made of lettuce.

I decided to give one of these Snickers Salads a try, but since Matt and I are not big fans of peanuts, I replaced the Snickers with Milky Way bars.  Now you can have a taste of Minnesota for yourself!

You need:

• 4 chopped Milky Way bars (frozen makes them easier to chop up)
• 4 Granny Smith apples
• 8 oz Cool Whip (thawed)
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup milk

Chop up your candy bars.

Combine the milk and the pudding with a whisk; stir in the Cool Whip.

Add the chopped candy bars and apples; stir until fully combined.