Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday: One for Zach

This is a recipe a family friend made regularly for him in school, and he's been asking me to try it for a while.  I found a bunch of variations on Pinterest from numerous blogs, food.com, and cooks.com, and have combined the pieces I like into one recipe.  Take your pick for where you want to start, as this appears to be a classic recipe!  

So here goes.  

And yes, I'm posting this partially so I have all my notes on the recipe in one place :)

Frog Eye Salad 

(or as he calls it 'Frog Salad' - I think I like that name better, less witches' brew-ish!)

 

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. salt (divided)
• 1 3/4 c. pineapple juice
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 qts water
• 1 tbsp. cooking oil
• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. acini de pepe or rose marie orzo (we use orzo) 

• 3 (11 oz.) cans mandarin oranges, drained
• 2 (20 oz.) cans pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (9 oz.) carton non dairy whipped topping (i.e. Cool Whip)

 

Optional Ingredients

• 1 c. miniature marshmallows (yeah, these aren't exactly optional in our house!)
• 1 (14 oz.) can fruit cocktail
• 1 (14 oz.) can peaches 
• 1 (14 oz.) can pears 
• 9 oz. maraschino cherries, halved
• 2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 c. coconut

Instructions

1. Combine sugar, flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. 
2. Gradually stir in pineapple juice and well-beaten eggs. 
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened. 
4. Add lemon juice.
5. Cool to room temperature. 
6. Bring water for pasta to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon oil and remaining 2 teaspoons salt
7. Add pasta and cook until done (about 10 minutes, or according to package directions). 

 
8. Drain, rinse and drain again. 
9. Cool to room temperature. 
10. Combine egg-juice mixture and pasta, mixing lightly but thoroughly.
11. Refrigerate overnight (or, at least several hours) in air-tight container. 
12. Next day, mix in rest of ingredients, tossing lightly.  If it seems dry, add in some of the fruit juice from the canned fruits as well.
13. Chill in air-tight container. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Variations

• The coconut makes a good topping, apparently.  Zach's not a coconut fan, so I didn't include it, but there were several versions that included it.  Those recipes did say that if using the coconut as a topping, don't add in the coconut with the other fruit.  Instead, sprinkle it on top when you're ready to serve.
• The mix-ins are very customizable.  The fruits can all be adjusted to include ones you prefer.  And the marshmallows are optional (except in our house!) so if you're looking for a little less sugar in the dish, that's one change to make too.
• The recipe on food.com was a noticeably different variation, using vanilla pudding and milk instead of the cool whip.  Haven't tried it yet, but might be worth a try.

Do note, there is a lot of chilling involved in this one.  It's a very easy dish to put together, but it's not a last-minute option, with all of the fridge time involved.

Stores well refrigerated for up to a week.  One recipe version also said that the salad also may be frozen, but noted that freezing will alter the texture a little.

 

Makes 25 servings.  YES - this makes A LOT!  I actually don't have a container/casserole dish/serving bowl big enough to hold a batch, so it chilled in my fridge in my biggest mixing bowl (which is ENORMOUS, by the way).  So, if you aren't making this for a function, it's an easy enough recipe to halve.