Southern Favorites

I watch HIMYM and love the episode where Lilly goes to meet Marshall's family and his mom makes their favorite salad --- complete with Mayo and Doritos. Lilly is horrified....

That was/is pretty much my reaction to Andy's favorite salad, 7 Layer Salad.

I don't think it can be called a salad when it has a layer of mayo and a layer of bacon... I love some southern cooking but this is not one of those things I get.

I swore up & down I'd never make this salad... but I had extra lettuce on hand and Andy's squad had liked it when his mom made it to accompany my Thanksgiving day meal for them, so I broke down and made it.

At least it's pretty! I absolutely love this bowl (borrowed from Andy's mom)... I must find one similar!

I adapted my recipe from Andy's mom's recipe and added some different layers based on recipes I saw on the internet and what I had on hand. 

7 Layer "Salad"
Layer of Salad
Layer of Frozen Peas (not thawed... I don't even try to understand this recipe)
Layer of Red Peppers
Layer of Celery
Layer of Chopped Bacon (The one time I don't use turkey bacon, because this cannot be healthy anyways!)
Layer of Shredded Cheese (I used a three cheddar mix)
Layer of Mayo (tip from MIL, sprinkle with some sugar)
Layer of Tomatoes
Salt and Pepper layers as desired

This is one recipe I did not taste test... based on the fact that I hate mayo... but it gets Andy to consume a lot of veggies in one sitting so I guess it's worthwhile!