Mousy Pear Salad

Name: Mousy Pear Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings.
Ingredients: 2 cups shredded lettuce or lettuce leaves; 1 can (15-1/4 ounces) pear halves, drained; 24 raisins; 1 slice process cheese (Velveeta); Black shoestring licorice, cut into four 3-inch pieces and sixteen 1-inch pieces; 1 red maraschino cherry, quartered

When my children were small, they loved to make these fun fruit salads. They gobbled up any leftover cheese and licorice as soon as the mice were assembled. The salads were the first thing they'd dig into when we started supper.—Marie Hoyer, Hodgenville, Kentucky

Ingredients

2 cups shredded lettuce or lettuce leaves
1 can (15-1/4 ounces) pear halves, drained
24 raisins
1 slice process cheese (Velveeta)
Black shoestring licorice, cut into four 3-inch pieces and sixteen 1-inch pieces
1 red maraschino cherry, quartered

Directions

On four salad plates, place lettuce and a pear half, cut side down. Insert two raisins at narrow end of pear for eyes. Tuck four raisins under pear for feet. For ears, cut small teardrop-shaped pieces from cheese; place just above the eyes. Insert one 3-in. licorice piece into wide end of each pear for a tail. Insert four 1-in. pieces into each face for whiskers. Place a cherry piece under whiskers for nose.

Nutrition Facts

1 each: 150 calories, 1g fat (0 saturated fat), 3mg cholesterol, 126mg sodium, 36g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 0 fiber), 2g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 fruit, 1/2 starch.

Originally published as Mousy Pear Salad in Quick Cooking September/October 1998