I remember making this in the mid 1970's but I did not add any nuts that I can remember.  I used cool whip, a can of crushed pineapple, a box of pistachio pudding, etc.  And we made HUGE batches of it for church potlucks.  We also used to have a recipe for pistachio/cherry cookies (and bread) but I can't find my recipes for those.  Hmmm, the cookie grinch has been in my recipe box!  This time of year I make lots of different batches of biscotti, too.  YUM!

https://www.southernliving.com/watergate-salad-7107331

When I was teaching bible school in the summer, we took coffee breaks while the kids went outside and burned off   some energy.  The basement of the church was always so nice and cool, and we would fight over the pistachio stuff.  I think that's where I got the recipe for the pistachio bread.  But heck that was 50 some years ago, so I don't know if I remember correctly or not.