There were three salads that never failed to make an appearance on the Christmas dinner table when I was growing up. Chicken potato salad or chicken macaroni salad, sometimes both, and buko / fruit salad.
Potato salad
The potato salad of my childhood was a simple affair. Boiled potatoes were peeled, cubed, combined with shredded boiled chicken breast meat and pickle relish, seasoned with salt and little white pepper, and tossed with mayo. My father, ever the kitchen maverick, added cashew nuts and boiled and peeled quail eggs to his potato salad. That was the version I adored.
Decades later, taking a cue from my father’s penchant for diverting from the norm, I learned to make and appreciate other variants of potato salad.
Potato and tomato salad with goat cheese | Inspired by Caprese salad, herbed goat cheese, tomato slices and sliced boiled potatoes are laid out alternatingly on the plate, drizzled with olive oil and garnished with fresh basil. Get the recipe.
Chicken, baby potatoes and fresh mushroom salad | Baby potatoes are boiled in salted water, combined with blanched button mushrooms and boiled chicken meat and tossed with a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, lemon juice, grated garlic, salt and pepper. Get the recipe.
Crispy fried potatoes, ham, tomatoes and feta salad | Rösti (Swiss-style fried grated potatoes) serves as the base and carb component of a salad. No tossing is required. Simply top the rosti with tomatoes, feta and smoky ham, drizzle in vinaigrette (or serve on the side), garnish with parsley and you have a tasty and filling meal. Get the recipe.
Japanese potato salad | Coarsely mashed boiled potatoes, roughly chopped hard-boiled eggs, crispy bacon, carrot, cucumber and sweet corn are tossed with Japanese mayo, salt and pepper to make this delightful snack or side dish. Get the recipe.
Potatoes and green beans salad | Potatoes and green beans are boiled, drained and tossed with crumbled tinapa (salty smoked fish) soaked in spicy oil. Get the recipe.
Potato, egg and salmon salad | Boiled potatoes, broiled salmon and egg halves are tossed with a simple dressing made with olive oil, dill, pickle relish, capers, pickle juice, lemon juice, grated garlic and lemon zest. A citrusy and herby summer salad that’s filling enough to be a main course. Serve at room temperature. Get the recipe.
Macaroni salad
It was just as simple as potato salad except for the addition of canned pineapple tidbits. I used to pick out the pineapple tidbits, set them aside and leave them on my plate. And the stringy shredded chicken breast, not exactly enticing, was something to be endured. I loved the macaroni though. Seasoned well and coated generously with mayo, it was a child’s delight. When my paternal aunt who lived next door started adding cheese cubes to her macaroni salad, I was smitten.
Today, cheese remains an integral part of my macaroni salad. To get the sweetness of the pineapple without having to chew the fibrous fruit, I substitute crushed pineapple. And I have long ago ditched the stringy shredded chicken in favor of more flavorful meat like ham or bacon.
Ham and macaroni salad | Boiled macaroni, cubes of salty ham and cheese, sweet crushed pineapple, pickle relish, sliced celery and chopped carrot are tossed with mayo to make this lovely pasta and meat salad. Get the recipe.
Bacon macaroni salad | I love macaroni salad especially when it has so much in it — celery, carrot, pickle relish, crushed pineapple, meat, cheese… I have to admit though that there are times when I want more — more color, more texture and more flavor. Bacon is the answer. Get the recipe.
Buko salad / fruit salad
I was raised on two versions of this dessert salad. The first version, popularly called buko salad, had shredded young coconut and canned fruit cocktail; the second version, simply called fruit salad, did not have coconut. Both had the same dressing: equal amounts of cream and sweetened condensed milk.
I liked buko salad more than the no-coconut version. The latter was just canned fruit cocktail, drained well, and tossed with the dressing. It wasn’t my favorite because, with few exceptions (like the crushed pineapple in my macaroni salad), I was never a fan of canned fruit. After I got married, I discovered that my in-laws added canned peaches to their fruit salad, and that singular addition made the dessert salad more palatable to me.
Still, you know, canned fruit. Definitely retro and even more definitely from the dregs of Americal colonialism. If you haven’t heard about it yet, canned fruit cocktail has always been the traditional ingredient for Filipino fruit salad because of an attempt to mimic the preference of an American colonial officer’s wife, one Edith Moses, who was convinced that fresh local fruits were unsanitary.
Well, Edith Moses and clones past and present, I prefer fresh fruits in my fruit salad with or without coconut.
What fruits go into the salad vary depending on what’s available. Sweet ripe mangoes and melon are musts for me. Apples add crunch, bananas lend a soft creaminess and seedless grapes provide color and an interesting contrast in shape.
The bananas are sliced, the mangoes, melon and apples are diced, the grapes are left whole and everything is tossed with a couple of tablespoons of lemon or calamansi juice. The acid in the juice not only helps prevent discoloration, it also adds a subtle tanginess that makes the overall flavor of the salad balanced rather than sickly sweet.
My preferred dressing is one part sweetened condensed milk, one part sour cream and one part whipping cream. All three are chilled for hours before the salad is tossed. The cold sour cream and cream are whipped until thick, the cold sweetened condensed milk is folded in, the mixture is poured over the fruits and everything is tossed gently but thoroughly. Then, the fruit salad goes into the fridge until serving time.
Not just for the holidays
At home, enjoying these three salads and all their iterations isn’t reserved for the holidays. We make them any time of the year. In the case of potato and macaroni salad, whenever the breast of a roasted or rotisserie chicken gets left behind, it is chopped — not shredded — and added to pasta or potatoes. During the summer months when fruits are plentiful and less expensive, we make fruit salad.
Are we making any of these three for Christmas? Probably not. Although my husband will likely insist on making the retro fruit salad from his childhood with canned fruit cocktail and peaches.
