Ambrosia Adventure: Food of the gods is fit for a crowd

Last week’s heat, besides making me itchy, grumpy and anxious about my veggies charbroiling on the vine, had me thinking about a classic potluck dish called ambrosia. I made a beeline for this at every single church picnic and family get-together, sometimes ignoring the desserts and going back for seconds. That’s the interesting thing about ambrosia: Is it a sweet side dish or is it a dessert? I say it’s both things, depending on whether you’re eating it with dinner or after dinner. If you’re eating it before dinner, it’s breakfast.

The ambrosia salad that I particularly remember is green and lumpy with all kinds of ingredients, not necessarily lovely to look at but delicious to eat, cold and sweet. It seemed just the ticket for your average, run-of-the-mill 115-degree day in Vancouver, which is exactly when you want to be in the kitchen making things, am I right?

It’s hard to pin down what a “classic” ambrosia is because there are so many versions. Some versions have rice, some have coconut and some have walnut or pecan bits. Some recipes include pudding mix, sour cream or heavy cream. A few have a dollop of mayo. Here’s what all the recipes have in common: mini-marshmallows, pineapple, mandarins, cherries and Cool Whip. My daughter is allergic to coconut and my husband detests most nuts, but I still believed that I could make a pretty decent stab — or spoon, as the case may be — at the idealized salad in my mind. I could even make my own bowl with coconut and nuts and huddle over it in a corner, poking people with my utensil if they got too near.

I decided to have an “ambrosia adventure” and make up my own Monikambrosia (Ambrosika?) with all the things I like. I took inspiration from several recipes, settling on a mashup that includes rice, pudding mix, Cool Whip, Greek yogurt, pineapple, mandarins, cherries and a summery twist with peaches and fresh raspberries. I did indeed mix in coconut and walnut tidbits for my portion and I like it better that way but there’s no accounting for taste. So here’s what I did, plus a couple suggestions for variations. One final note before we start: This recipe makes what is known in colloquial terms as a “boatload.” Do not make this unless you intend to share it with 20 to 300 other people, depending on portion size, and eat it up within two days before it turns into soup.

Monikambrosia

Cook 1 cup rice in salted water to make 2 cups cooked rice. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Get out the biggest bowl you have and into that bowl drain the juice of a 20-ounce can of pineapple tidbits, an 11-ounce can of mandarin oranges and a 15.25-ounce can of peach chunks. (I couldn’t find peach chunks at the store, so I used two of those diced peach snack cups that can be packed in lunches). Set the fruit aside in another bowl.

Into the juice put a 3.4-ounce packet of pistachio pudding and a 3.4-ounce packet of vanilla pudding (both of the instant variety), along with a teaspoon of vanilla. Use a hand mixer to whip the pudding until thick. Add 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, whatever you have on hand, and blend until the color is uniformly pale green. I confess that I cheated and added a few drops of green food coloring to make it a little greener.

Mix an additional half-cup of sliced maraschino cherries and 1 pint of fresh raspberries into the fruit; the raspberries add a welcome tart zing to an otherwise uniformly sweet concoction. Mix the fruit into the pudding along with the cooled rice and 2 cups mini-marshmallows (the multicolored kind are prettier in this salad, in my opinion, but the plain white will also taste fine). Stir in the cooled rice, then mix in a thawed 12-ounce container of Cool Whip or other whipped topping.

At this point, you can leave it as it is or add a cup of flaked coconut and a cup of walnut or pecan pieces. I made it both ways, creamy and crunchy, and I prefer the crunchy by about a mile. I think all the different textures are what makes ambrosia irresistible: soft fruit, fluffy marshmallows, creamy whipped topping, chewy rice and crunchy nuts. It’s a party down in Textureville and everyone’s invited.

Before serving, leave it in the fridge to chill for a couple hours then decorate it with a few extra maraschino cherries and raspberries or a sprinkling of coconut and nuts.

Variations worth trying

Use two packets of pistachio pudding for a more pronounced pistachio flavor, or try vanilla with lemon pudding or vanilla with banana pudding. Use slivered almonds instead of walnuts or pecans or try salty pistachio pieces. Use fresh strawberries, blackberries or marionberries instead of (or in addition to) raspberries, or use fresh cherries instead of maraschino cherries, or make it decadent with rich, dark red Amarena cherries. Use a can of fruit cocktail instead of peaches or use fresh peaches instead of canned. Give it a tropical twist with a can of diced mango or fresh papaya. Make the pirate version and add a couple jiggers of rum to the fruit juice before mixing in the pudding. I haven’t tried this yet but I’m on my way to the kitchen now, aarrr!