Deb’s Layered Salad

Serves: Hundreds

Christmas – specifically the catering of it – is a truly unique time.

Exciting, once-a-year, stressful, often unidirectional and lonesome (at least from the cook’s perspective), always worth it. We over-cater, we stress about dry turkeys, we snap when asked why we do or do not serve cranberry with our turkey/ham/chicken/whatever.

Best stuffings are argued and yet, when the time comes, it all tastes pretty bloody good, it is all greatly appreciated and the stress of the morning is forgotten in the malaise of the afternoon.

One of the greater stresses is changing your tradition or having it changed for you. We each have a vision of Christmas and if you don’t do prawns or BBQ, you don’t do prawns or BBQ.

Last year, we had a big family Christmas at Nat’s parent’s place. The kids, kid’s of kids, dogs, the whole shebang. The Ashes are a pretty relaxed bunch and they serve up some pretty awesome dinners; and yet it was with trepidation that I tried to merge what I could of my Christmas lunch with their tradition.

Top of my worries was this salad.

How could it go with my stuffed turkey breast, truffle mash or famous stuffing? I don’t do the simple, salad and meat Christmas and there was no way this salad could make sense to me.

Well, last year, my tradition changed!

To include this salad.

BOOM! It is awesome. Christmas awesome.

It is exactly what is great about Christmas. It tastes like Christmas.

It is utterly outrageous and that is the point.

Deb – Nat’s mum – throws some interesting culinary curve-balls and I should have known from her potato bake and cauliflower mash that she had it sorted.

I am a doubter no more.

My only worry is trying to convince you yo try it. Hopefully my admission of wrongful doubt will help.

BOOM!

Ingredients

Iceberg lettuce, shredded
Baby peas, blanched
Button mushrooms, sliced thinly
Eggs, boiled, grated
Spring onions, thinly sliced
Cheddar cheese, grated
Sour cream and whole egg mayonnaise, equal parts combined
Bacon, julienned and fried
Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Baby tomatoes, chopped

Method

1. In the biggest bowl you can find, layer it all. Again and again.