Oreo Cookie Salad

What summer salad menu is complete without a delectable dessert? We've had Sunburst Macaroni Salad with 4 of the 5 food groups, not to mention fats/oils, and Fresh Fruit Salad to round out the pyramid. But we can't forget that mysterious and elusive 6th food group: chocolate / sweets. And even better if your salad has both chocolate AND sweets, right? Your request is my command, master. Ta da!

1 small box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
1 (8.0z) container whipped topping
30 Oreo cookies, broken into pieces
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Prepare pudding according to package directions with the milk. Fold in the whipped topping. Mix in cookies and marshmallows and refrigerate until ready to serve.

And for those of you questioning the title salad, from Webster's 3rd definition for the word salad: a usually incongruous mixture; hodgepodge. 'Nuff said.

Now, I do understand that making a pudding from scratch is a time consuming and sometimes difficult proposition. Not everybody enjoys the challenge as much as I do, and that's fine. But come on, "whipped topping"?!?! It takes less time and effort to whip up some heavy cream than it does to make the pudding, plus you have the added advantage of not having to rely on a substance that would survive a nuclear holocaust without mutation or destruction. It's like putting cockroaches in your salad to add a little crunch! I'm all for specificity of measurement, but how many tries do you suppose it took to discover that 30 was the magic number of Oreos; or was it just that they ate the other 21 in the package in the process? Or perhaps they're just rubbing their hands in glee at making us count out 30 Oreos. 1...2...3...4......29...30. Phew! (Wiping sweat off brow) Made it. Let's see. I've got soft and squishy and I have crunchy and chocolatey, I feel like I just need one more texture and it'll be perfect. Especially since after enough time the cookies will probably get soft and squishy too. Hmmm, maybe something a little chewy. Yes! Marshmallows. Perfect.