Sides, sides and more sides

Yesterday I posted the Turkey and Stuffing recipes. If you missed them, go back and take a look. I’ve always been all about the side dishes. I’ll have a small amount of turkey but what I really want is the sides. Maybe that’s why my menu is so out of control. Anyway, today I’m posting the recipes for the Apple rice medley and the Fancy Mac-n-cheese.

The Apple Rice Medley:

I found this recipe in my 4-ingredient cookbook.

1 package long grain and wild rice
1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese divided
1 cup chopped Golden Delicious apple
1 cup sliced mushrooms
½ cup thinly sliced celery

Prepare rice according to package
Add ½ of the cheese, the apple, mushrooms and celery to the rice; toss to combine. Spoon into 1 qt. dish and bake for 15 minutes at 350 and then top with remaining cheese and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted.
(sorry, can't find the picture of this one as a finished dish???? must have gone too quickly.)

(You can make this 1-day ahead but you’ll need to adjust the bake time.)

The Fancy Macaroni Casserole:

I got this recipe years and years ago from a second cousin by marriage and probably couldn’t pick her out of a crowd today if I had to. I’ve altered the ingredients a few times along the way.

8 oz. Macaroni (elbow or small shells work best)
½ lb. Sharp cheddar cheese grated
1-cup mayo
* About 1 roasted red pepper (more or less to your personal taste)
* ½ cup onion (I never use the onion... don't like it.)
* Small jar of mushrooms (I like fresh better and use about a cup of them sliced)
* Small green pepper (again, I never use the pepper... don't like it.)
* 2 to 4 table spoons of crumbled blue cheese (yum, the more the better for me.)
1 can cream of mushroom soup

(**** These ingredient are basically considered optional but don’t cut all of them out or you’ll be left with nothing “fancy”)

Cook the pasta and then mix together with the other ingredients and bake for 40 minutes at 375.
Special note… The blue cheese can be mixed in and/or sprinkled on top.

(You can make this 1-day ahead)

When I’m doing so many side dishes I like to make what I can a day ahead. It can also be a challenge to bake everything per the instructions. I usually try to average the temp. Most of my recipes were between 375 and 325. I used 350 but could have done 375 with so many dishes in at once. I also added 10 to 15 minutes to a few dishes to make sure they were hot in the center.

So are you after the turkey or are you more interested in the sides? What’s your favorite side dish?

I’ll post the Broccoli Bake and the Potato Soup next.