"Salad" Days

File under: When is a salad actually a "salad"?

I woke up this morning craving vegetables. Which, if you know me, you realize is pretty amazing.

If you've been following my past few days, you know that I'm currently in a small town in South Dakota visiting my parents. 

When I got into town yesterday afternoon, my mom was volunteering at a church supper at the Catholic Church. (Yes. I had been forewarned.) So my dad and I got to hang out at home for a while and then went over to meet up with my mom and have dinner. We dutifully paid for dinner (just $7.50 per adult, which makes me wonder how they make any money), and then stood and/or sat in line in the church waiting for spaces to open up in the parish hall. (Oddly enough, I realized after-the-fact that I neither genuflected nor crossed myself with holy water on the way into the church--it just didn't seem necessary since were there for dinner, not mass.)

I knew in advance that dinner was going to consist of a tried-and-true meal which has been served at the Catholic Church for years, and I have to admit that I was enticed by the catered (and, remember, this was all only $7.50) main course: Broasted Chicken and Ham, served with "special" chees-y potatoes (which had a top crust of cornflakes--that's the special part, but don't tell anyone... I think it's supposed to be a secret). Unfortunately, as we entered the hall to be served, it dawned on me why a lot of people in the States may have problems if they try to lose weight by eating salads.  

**sidenote** Have you ever had Broasted Chicken? I don't know exactly what they do to it, but it's amazing. Somewhere between fried and roasted. I've never had a dry piece of broasted chicken. Yum. **end sidenote**

But, anyway... Back to the salads. Or... rather... the "salads."

The side dishes--along with green beans--were a pasta "salad" which was oddly sweet, and a fruit "salad" which consists of all sorts of rather-expensive fresh fruit stirred into a base of cherry pie filling (which results, sadly, in all of the great fresh fruit tasting vaguely like canned cherries). I did eat the pasta "salad," but simply used the sauce from the fruit "salad" as a dip/glaze for my ham, for which it was perfectly suited.

Luckily, for dessert we were offered our choice of a slice of one of the pies which had been donated. Mom had stashed a slice of whipped peanut butter pie with chocolate shavings on top, which she figured I'd like. 

Mom was right, that pie was great--the perfect contrast to the sweetness of the "salads."