Spam Salad Cones

These SPAM salad cones take a basic meat salad and give it a playful presentation that’s half the fun. Flour tortillas get rolled into cone shapes, stuffed with foil to hold their form, and broiled until crispy and golden. Fill them with a chunky SPAM and vegetable salad, and you’ve got a hand-held lunch that looks like it took way more effort than it did.

The salad itself has good crunch going on: celery, green bell pepper, and toasted slivered almonds all cut through the richness of the cubed SPAM and mayonnaise dressing. Dill relish and mustard add tang and a pickle-like brightness.

Making the tortilla cones is the fun part. Roll them tight, pin with a toothpick, stuff with crumpled foil so they don’t collapse, and broil while turning them a few times. Three minutes under the broiler and they’re crisp as a taco shell but shaped like an ice cream cone.

Line each cone with a lettuce leaf before filling. It keeps the salad from soaking through the shell.

Pro Tips

• Watch the broiler constantly when crisping the cones. They go from golden to charred in seconds.
• Secure the cones tightly with wooden picks. Loose rolls will unravel under the broiler.
• Make the salad ahead and chill it. Cold filling in a warm cone is the best contrast.
• Toast the almonds in a dry skillet for 3 minutes until fragrant. Raw almonds won’t have the same nutty punch.

Variations

• Chicken salad cones: Swap the SPAM for diced rotisserie chicken for a lighter version.
• Spicy kick: Add a dash of hot sauce or diced jalapeño to the salad mixture.