Internet Unearths Donut Salad Recipe, America Confused Yet Joyful

Imagine, if you will, your favorite salad. What does it contain? Surely there’s a leafy green and some vegetables in there. Maybe meat or eggs if you’re making a meal of it? What about nuts, seeds, cheeses, or another assorted traditional toppings? You’ll for sure need a killer homemade dressing to top it all off, and then you’re all set.

Right? Not if you’re this vintage “salad” recipe that has the internet all aflutter — because donuts.

Vintage recipes can stay a secret no longer, thanks to the internet. From salmon jello to all sorts of other crazy confections, vintage cookbooks hold the key to some of the best laughs around. This vintage “salad” recipe is no exception. Since Paul Fairie posted it on Twitter, it has since been retweeted nearly 4,000 times!

This salad is a simple one for those at home who are worried about their ability to cook a hearty meal. To feed four people you merely need 4 donuts (yes, you read that right), 1/4 pound of cream cheese, 4 prunes, and 4 pieces of lettuce.

Now, I don’t know where you come from or from what era, but those ingredients do not make a salad. You can check out assembly instructions above in case you’re as confused as the rest of the internet.

So in light of this new “salad,” and as much fun as we all made of that apple/Snickers salad that made the rounds on Pinterest a few years back (even though we ate every last bit of it), we must ask the following question: What do we call a salad and why? Is it ingredients on a bed of greens? Is it a vegetable-based meal? Is it random things put together that don’t fall into any other food group?

One definition at Merriam-Webster defines a salad as “a usually incongruous mixture.” A hodgepodge, if you will. Well, by that idea, this donut and date salad is in fact, a salad.

That said, I won’t personally be making it anytime soon. But maybe this definition means I’m already eating more salads than I thought I was! My health goals are now achieved.