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IT'S STILL HOT! LET'S STAY COOL!

© Vaudie E. Harrison

During the past couple of weeks, Summer has come in with a breath like a blowtorch. Simply said, it's just flat hot virtually everywhere in the country.

Here in the Desert Southwest, the Monsoon Season has arrived with the attendant high humidity and thunderstorms. Happens every year just about this time, and lasts until about the middle of September. The rain sure does help the desert. You see, here in the desert, we get about a third to as much as one-half of our yearly rainfall during the Monsoon months.

Since it's still so hot, we're going to stick with the relatively easy and definitely cool main dish salads. It's just too hot to stand in the hot kitchen any longer than we have to. This week, I'll give you two similar, yet very different salads for your summertime enjoyment.

FAMILY CHICKEN SALAD

14 (Fourteen) Cups of Cooked, Diced Chicken ( Approx. 2 Four to Five Pound Chickens)

2 teaspoons of Salt

7 Cups of Diced Celery

4 Cups of Whole Seedless Grapes (Red and Green Mixed)

6-8 Hard-Boiled Eggs (Chopped)

3 Cups of Mayonnaise (Or Salad Dressing)

1 Cup of Toasted, Slivered, Blanched Almonds

Place Chicken in a large bowl and sprinkle with Salt. Add the Celery, Seedless Grapes and the Chopped Eggs. Place in the "fridge" and chill for several hours. Add the Mayonnaise or Salad Dressing and toss lightly. Be sure to coat everything with the dressing.

Serve on a bed of chopped lettuce leaves--approx. 1 Cup per serving. Garnish with one or more of the following--Sliced Cantaloupe or other Melon, Fresh Pineapple, Fresh Grapefruit Chunks, or Ripe Avocado. Top with a light sprinkling of Almonds.

FRESH SHRIMP SALAD

6 to 8 Pounds of Fresh Shrimp

8 Cups of Chopped Celery

6 to 8 Hard-Boiled Eggs (Sliced)

1 teaspoon of finely chopped Onion

2 teaspoons of Salt

1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper (Or to Taste)

Boil the Shrimp for seven to eight minutes in water to which you have added four teaspoons of Salt and four teaspoons of Caraway Seeds. Let Shrimp Cool in the cooking water. Remove the shells from the Shrimp and de-vein them. (Remove the black vein from the back of the Shrimp using a sharp pointed knife) NOTE: It is possible to buy a tool, in a kitchen shop, that is designed to remove the vein. Depending on the size of the Shrimp, cut them into two or more pieces.

In a large bowl, mix the cut Shrimp and all the other ingredients (except the sliced Eggs) and chill completely. Shortly before serving, add 1 Pint of Mayonnaise or Salad Dressing and toss until everything is coated completely.

The copyright of the article IT'S STILL HOT! LET'S STAY COOL! in Recipes 1880-1960 is owned by Vaudie E. Harrison. Permission to republish IT'S STILL HOT! LET'S STAY COOL! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.