Watergate Salad

When I saw this ‘70’s salad in the “Library of Family Favorites" I immediately remembered buying it at our grocery deli back when, and everyone enjoyed it.  There were 3 contributors of this recipe which attests to its popularity.  The earliest printed recipe for this salad was in the Washington Post, November 13, 1975, according to Foodtimeline.Org.  Kraft published a similar recipe, without the Watergate name, when they brought out Pistachio pudding mix in 1975. 

It’s very, very simple to make, so we enjoyed it for lunch today, after I stopped by the store to purchase the ingredients.  Were I going to make this more often, I would look for the ingredients on sale.  However, it cost $3.99 for ½ this amount of similar salads at our grocery deli today, so 5 minutes of mixing saves a lot; and you know when it was prepared and how it was stored.  I can't believe I was ever willing to pay so much more to buy it premade.

It is a light, refreshing dessert-salad; excellent for pot lucks or entertaining when you don’t want to fuss and you want make something most folks will eat.                  

                             Watergate Salad

  1          box (3.4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding mix  

  20        ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained

  1 ½      cups *thawed Cool Whip® (1/2 of an 8 oz. carton)

     ½      cup  pecans or other nuts

  1          cup  miniature marshmallows

Fold dry pudding into whipped topping.  Add pineapple and juice, marshmallows and nuts.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
*Cool whip can be thawed 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Contributors:  Angela Fisher, Lori Rogus, Wanda Kline

2011 Cost:  $3.11 per quart recipe

Yield:  "1 quart"