Jazz up boring old cranberry sauce by turning it into a festive salad

There are plenty of reasons to chat with your family during the holidays, but don’t let it be the cranberry sauce. The Thanksgiving table isn’t complete without it, but let’s face it, this sauce can be one of the most controversial dishes of the season. Some people will only eat it if it is homemade. Others won’t touch it unless it comes from a can. If your family members have strong and opposing opinions on the best way to enjoy cranberry sauce, save the debate for another day by trying something completely off the beaten path.

Cranberry sauce makes a festive addition to your holiday salad. Cranberry salad has always been popular around the Thanksgiving table in the South. It’s similar to a 1960s jello salad, but holiday-themed. The salad includes various fruits and nuts accompanied by cranberry sauce and is coated in Jello. These salads took off when Jello released the first instant gelatin mix in 1897. This product helped families save money on food: they could put their leftovers in jelly molds for storage and reuse. Now cranberry sauce can benefit from the gelatin treatment and bring harmony to your Thanksgiving reception.

Read more: 7 Nuts You Should Eat and 7 You Shouldn’t Eat

Upgrade Cranberry Sauce with Jelly, Fruit, and Nuts

There are some dishes that you only see around the holiday season, and cranberry sauce is definitely one of them. If you’re tired of plain canned cranberry sauce or just looking to bring something new to your holiday table, make a batch of cranberry salad. It’s the perfect dish to feed a group at your next get-together, or you can store it in your fridge to snack on throughout the week.

The best cranberry recipes contain flavors that complement the tartness of the berry. In cranberry salad, you’ll often see other tart elements like crushed pineapple and finely chopped apples. The fruits are mixed into a cranberry sauce with nuts and suspended in jelly, most often flavored with raspberries for its characteristic tartness.

This dish has a twist on your standard cranberry sauce. And it’s versatile: You can enjoy cranberry salad on its own, on a spoonful of turkey, or even on a cracker. It’s also a step above the original canned version because it’s not limited to the holiday season. Enjoy it at a summer barbecue or bring it to your next book club meeting.

Read the original article on Mashed.