RECIPE DOCTOR
Cranberries in Cool Whip for holidays

By Elaine Magee
Knight Ridder News Service

This colorful salad works very well as a side dish for a holiday dinner. It is sweet yet tart, soft yet crunchy. This salad will actually keep its shape and texture the next day, thanks to the durability of Cool Whip. Individual servings of this whipped salad in beautiful dessert bowls or glasses can decorate the table.

I tried to cut the sugar in this recipe but it truly needed every tablespoon of it. You can cut the sugar by ¡ cup and it will still work, but will be a bit on the tart side. I also used crushed pineapple canned in juice instead of syrup to shave off a few sugar calories.

I cut the fat from the whipped cream was by using Lite Cool Whip in its place. (You can lighten whipped cream by blending it with whipped egg whites, but I generally don't resort to this because of the risk of salmonella poisoning from raw eggs). If you don't mind fat-free Cool Whip, you can use this instead and the fat grams will be around 6.5 grams per serving instead of 8.

Whipped Cranberry Salad

• 2 (12-ounce) packages fresh cranberries
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple canned in juice, very well drained
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 4 cups Lite Cool Whip (or use 4 cups of whipped light whipping cream); fat-free Cool Whip can also be used if desired
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows

Coarsely chop the cranberries in a food processor. Put them in a large, zip-lock bag and mix in the sugar.

Close the bag and refrigerate for 12 hours.

Add the pineapple and nuts to the cranberries and mix well with a spoon. Fold in the Lite Cool Whip and marshmallows; refrigerate until ready to serve.

Original recipe had 379 calories, 22 grams fat, and 8 grams saturated fat per serving.

Per serving (if 10 per recipe and using Lite Cool Whip): 260 calories, 1.3 g protein, 46 g carbohydrates, 8 g fat, 2.6 g saturated fat, 4 g monounsaturated fat, 1.6 g polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 5 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 28 percent.

Note: if using fat-free Cool Whip, the fat grams will be around 6.5 g. Omega-3 fatty acids, 0.6 g. Omega-6 fatty acids, 1 g. Weight Watchers points, 5.

Elaine Magee is author of "The Recipe Doctor Cookbook" and "The Flax Cookbook." Write to her through www.recipedoctor.com. Personal responses cannot be provided.