I went searching the web the other day for recipes for Ham Salad. I found a whole bunch of variations, not a single one of which could be made with the ingredients I had in my fridge. And besides, it’s the kind of food where you shouldn’t really be working from a recipe anyhow, but rather from a rough set of guidelines. So here are mine.
Ingredients
- Ham - two thin slices, or one thick slice, chopped
- One hard-boiled egg, chopped
- One mayo packet from the fast-food joint (or 1 tbsp mayonnaise)
(Yes, you can use Miracle Whip®, but it’s better with mayo)
And up to three of the following
- 4″ stalk of celery - chopped
- quarter-pickle “spear” - chopped
- three or four pickle slices - chopped
- three or four olives, without pit, and optionally with pimento - chopped
- one ring pineapple - chopped
- small chunk green pepper - chopped
- tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- one slice american cheese - chopped
- small chunk (tablespoon or so) cheddar cheese - chopped
Instructions
- Chop the ingredients, if you haven’t already
- Drain the vegetable matter - you don’t want things soggy
- Put the chopped things in a bowl big enough to hold everything and then some
- Squirt in the mayo, and mix (go ahead and use your hand if you want)
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- If making a sandwich, smear it on the bread
- If you don’t have bread, add about ½ cup cooked and cooled macaroni
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Feeds 1
You can double, triple or whatever multiple you’d like with this, but I find that I most often make about 2 servings, use half the result on bread for lunch, and the other half with a little pasta for dinner, and I’ve managed to clean up a lot of little odds and ends from the kitchen, while still having a tasty meal or two.
If you don’t have any ham, use two or three eggs and call it egg salad.