Cranberry Crunch Salad

My first post in a while! I thought Thanksgiving would be the perfect time to dust off the ole laptop and share some yummy recipes. We all love the traditional holiday recipes that we grew up with but sometimes it's nice to mix it up a little. So.... what's up with the weird jello fruit salads that our moms always make? Don't get me wrong, I love my Mom's "Coronado Fruit Salad" (despite it's opaque mint green color and questionable mixture of heavy cream, pineapple chunks and horseradish) and gobble it up every year but it's time for an update!

This salad is a healthier, refreshing combination of fresh cranberries, apples and nuts that offers the palate-cleansing we crave... without being a scary gelatinous blob :-) Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Cranberry Crunch Salad

Ingredients

• 1 package (12 oz) fresh cranberries
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 small apple, cored and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions

1. Wash cranberries and drain. Chop coarsely in food processor. 
2. In a large bowl, combine cranberries and sugar. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Chop the celery, apple and nuts.
4. Sprinkle gelatin over orange juice in small saucepan. Let stand for 1 minute. Stir over medium heat until gelatin is completely dissolved (about 1 minute).
5. Add gelatin mixture, apple, celery, and nuts to cranberries. Mix well.
6. Turn combined ingredients into a 1 quart mold or 9x9 casserole dish. Refrigerate until firm or overnight.

Makes 8 servings.