Fourth of July Recipes, Side Dishes

Fourth of July celebrations have certain standard dishes you pretty much have to make in order to keep your guests from launching a mutiny because you didn't make any baked beans of macaroni salad. Here are a few Fourth of July recipes that put a little different spin on some July 4 favorites.

Baked German Potato Salad

Yes, this is German-style, but it's incredibly tasty. If you might be having some ultra-conservative types who might take offense to having something "German" that might raise bad feelings of World War II, you may want to avoid this one. Yes, this is an incredible stretch, but I've seen parties ruined over far less.

Ingredients:

1 cup diced bacon

1 cup diced celery

1 cup chopped onion

3 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons flour

8 cups cubed, cooked potatoes

2/3 cup of sugar

¼ cup of vinegar

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 1/3 cup of water

Fry bacon; drain. Return four tablespoons of fat to skillet. Add celery, onion, salt and flour. Cook slowly. Add sugar, vinegar, pepper and water. Bring to a boil. Pour over potatoes and bacon in a 3-inch high baking dish or crock pot and cover. Bake in a 350 degree oven for one hour or in a crock pot on high for one hour. Serves 12. Can be eaten hot or cold, so don't fret if it sits out for awhile and gets room temperature. It's still good!

Sweet macaroni salad

This type of macaroni salad doesn't have pieces of red pepper in it. In fact, it's based on sweet pickle gerkins for its source flavor.

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. box of macaroni

Sweet gerkin pickles (about four or five chopped up)

1 dozen eggs boiled, cooled, shelled and chopped

1 quart Miracle Whip (not mayonnaise)

Small amount of white wine vinegar (capful)

A drizzle of sweet pickle juice

Sugar to taste

Small white onion diced

Mix the Miracle Whip, vinegar, pickle juice and sugar together and taste. Add more pickle juice and/or sugar to taste. When you boil the macaroni, you can either let it cool after it's been boiled and drained or drain it and run cold water over it. The latter is my preferred method because it stops any further cooking of the pasta. Once drained and cool, add pickles, onion, eggs and mix well. Then add the salad dressing mixture with the Miracle Whip, etc., but not all of it. Reserve a cup or so for later. Put the macaroni salad and leftover dressing in the refrigerator over night, covered tightly. Take it out the next day. If it seems dry, add the remaining dressing. Chilling overnight helps the flavor permeate throughout the pasta.

This is probably NOT a great recipe for diabetics, considering the amount of sugar in raw form and in the pickle juice, Miracle Whip, etc.

Baked Cabbage Casserole

Still a veggie dish, but it's a manly one. Tons of cheesy goodness! And, what's better, is it's super easy to whip together and is a change of pace from the standard green bean casserole or broccoli casserole.

Ingredients:

1 large head of cabbage, chopped

1 can of cream of potato soup

8 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

Spread chopped cabbage in bottom of a casserole dish or glass baking dish. Spread soup over cabbage. Cover with foil and bake at 325 degrees for at least ½ hour or until bubbly. Remove foil and sprinkle cheese over top of mixture. Bake an additional 10 minutes, uncovered.

Note: Other cheese could be used, and you can add French's crispy onions if desired.