Quick Orange Fruit Salad

When I have one of those family reunion pot-lucks to attend, this is my go-to dish.  This salad is delicious and so easy to make it only takes a couple of minutes to open a few cans and packages, combine them, and put it in the refrigerator to chill.  I added maraschino cherries, because my grandson especially likes them.  
I have found several old recipes that are similar; perhaps from the late 50’s or early 60’s.  Other recipes called for fruit cocktail instead of pineapple, or the addition of 1 cup of coconut, or adding marshmallows or using lime gelatin.   All sound good, but my guests enjoyed second helpings of this recipe. This makes a main dish salad with the protein from the cottage cheese. Serve with buns, meat and cheese plate, bread sticks or chips, relishes, etc. You hardly need a dessert.

Quick Orange Fruit Salad
16 Ounces Cottage Cheese
1 Package Orange Gelatin Powder-- 3 ounce
11 Ounces Mandarin Oranges in Water -- drained
8 Ounces Cool Whip® -- thawed or 1 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped
20 Ounces Pineapple Chunks in Juice -- drained
Maraschino cherries (if you have them)
Pour gelatin (directly from box) over cottage cheese. Drain oranges and pineapple and stir with Cool Whip into cheese mixture. This can be made ahead of time and keeps for several days in the refrigerator. If a little moisture appears, simply stir.

Yield: "2 Quarts" about 8 servings.
Per Serving : 239 Calories; 7g Fat (25.6% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 34g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 5mg Cholesterol; 271mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Lean Meat; 1 Fruit; 1 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrate.