Ham Salad Sandwiches (From ‘The Modern Family Cook Book’ by Meta Given)

During my tomato-canning madness last week it happened to be rather hot outside. Not too horrible, but in the mid-80s, and with high humidity because of course there has to be high humidity. And while I can’t speak for anyone else, the last thing I want to do after spending hours over a steaming-hot canner is cook dinner.

There was some ham in the fridge, and I decided to go the ’50s housewife route – ham salad.

This was not something I grew up eating. Ham goes on a sandwich in slices, thank you very much. But hey, what the hell, right? So I busted out the ‘Modern Family Cook Book’ by Meta Given and found a recipe.

While a lot of older recipes (my edition of this book is from 1961) are a little…different*…this one was straightforward. Ham, sweet pickles, mayo, and mustard. Easy peasy.

Because I can’t leave anything alone, I added a few ingredients.

In the interests of ease of preparation, everything was chopped in the food processor. First the ham was minced, and then I added onion and green pepper.

And some roasted red peppers and sweet relish. Add the mayo and mustard…

…and yeah. Look at that. That looks…less than appetizing. But it was very tasty! I think next time I’ll use chopped dill pickles in place of the sweet relish; the sweet relish with the ham was a bit sweeter than I would have liked.

But seriously, to be able to pull dinner together in about 5 minutes with the aid of a food processor? That is amazing.

*Different  as in ‘this recipe is right above one for Ham and Banana Sandwiches’. With mustard. THE HORROR, OH GOD THE HORROR.
Ham Salad Sandwiches

Adapted slightly from ‘The Modern Family Cook Book’ by Meta Given, page 488

1 cup cooked ham, minced

1/4 cup green bell pepper, minced

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, minced

1/4 cup sweet pickles or dill pickles, minced

2 tablespoons onion, minced

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons Dijon or spicy brown mustard

Mix all ingredients together, serve between slices of good sandwich bread. Makes 4-5 sandwiches.

To make preparation easier, cut all the ingredients into chunks and pulse in a food processor until minced. Do the ham first, then remove it to a mixing bowl. The bell pepper, roasted peppers, pickles, and onions can be processed together, then added to the mixing bowl. Add the mayo and mustard directly to the mixing bowl.