The day my brother-in-law baked the seven-layer salad is a day that will live in infamy for our family.

Mel is a nice guy, and I really admire how good he has been to my sister and to the nieces and nephews who have come along in singles and even in triplets. From the beginning he has been helpful with everything around the house even though he has always been a captain of industry. He also takes time to go cross-country skiing, play golf and travel internationally with my sister by his side. Here comes the “but” …

You know the seven-layer salad is made a day ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until time to serve. It has a lot of lettuce, bacon, frozen peas, mayonnaise and more good stuff when served cold the next day.

Mel was helping get ready for this one family gathering when he grabbed the salad, which was in an aluminum foil-covered bowl, and put it in the oven at 350 degrees. A good laugh was had by all – and I’ll have to admit it didn’t taste too bad.

Since you are likely to already have the recipe for seven-layer salad, I’ll skip that one today. But, I’ll share a real baked garden salad.

Baked Garden Salad

1 large can of Red Gold whole tomatoes, with juice

3 stalks of celery diced  into small pieces

Red onions and green peppers cut into small pieces

3-4 garlic cloves, minced or crushed

Buttered cracker crumbs

Optional: Smoked sausage cut into dice-size pieces

Put all the ingredients except the cracker crumbs into a casserole dish and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.Remove from the oven and spread buttered crackers on top of the casserole. Return to the oven and bake just long enough to heat and brown the crackers. Serve this as a side dish with your entrée.

If you want to make it a whole meal, add1 pound of smoked sausage cut into dice-sized pieces before you start baking. Just stir it in to get the sausage well-distributed.

If you use the sausage, cover the casserole with foil for the first baking. Then, remove the foil and add the buttered crackers and continue baking until the crackers are browned.

Readers with questions or comments for Dave Kessler may write to him in care of this publication.