Crowd Size July 4th Recipe's

Having a party or cookout means having party sized flavorful and large sized side dishes. I have listed a few of my favorite recipes for take alongs that everyone I know seems to love. I have previously published some of these recipes on Helium.com however having the Fourth of July on it's way here I felt that sharing these wonderful meal ideas would be a great thought for those of you having parties or family cookouts.

Pasta salad supreme

 

 

This is a flavorful, hearty, and very colorful noodle salad. I usually make this to bring to parties, cookouts or a day at the beach.. This is a rather large recipe( yields 10-16) so you will need to adjust the amount of pasta and vegetables to suit your needs.

This is a flavorful, hearty, and very colorful noodle salad. I usually make this to bring to parties, cookouts or a day at the beach.. This is a rather large recipe( yields 10-16) so you will need to adjust the amount of pasta and vegetables to suit your needs.

This salad is very versatile and can be changed to your liking. For a different style try adding 2 6 oz cans of tuna or chicken, or even crab meat with baby salad shrimp with a tsp or two of lemon juice.

What you will need:

2 Lbs small shell pasta or elbow noodles

1 Small white onion diced

1 Small red onion diced

1 Cucumber diced

2 Medium size tomatoes diced or 6 Roma tomatoes diced

2 Cloves of garlic crushed

5 Hard boiled eggs (whites only)

2 Celery stalks finely diced

1 Orange bell pepper diced 1 Cup green bell pepper diced 1 Cup sliced Black or Green olives

3 Cups of diced ham

2 Cups of diced or shredded turkey

1 1/2 Cups cubed pepper jack cheese

1 Cup cubed Cheddar cheese

3 cups Miracle Whip salad dressing (more or less to taste)

3 Tsp garlic powder

3 Tsp Cajun spice

3 Tsp black pepper

2 Tsp Italian spice

1 Tsp celery seed

1 Tsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt to taste

Paprika for decorative top

Process:

1. Bring water to boil in large pot adding 1 Tsp of olive oil for the noodles. And in a 2 quart boiling pot bring water to boil for the hard boiled eggs. Cook eggs for about 12 minutes and noodles according to directions on package stirring frequently.

2. Strain noodles and run under cold water for 3 minutes.

3. Remove shells from eggs and rinse under cold water. Dice the whites and do as you wish with the yolks. You will not be needing the yolks for this recipe.

4. Add noodles in to a large mixing bowl. Add vegetables, spices, meat and Miracle Whip. Mix well. Top with paprika for a decorative touch. Refrigerate until needed or at least 1 hour.

 

Grandma's Pea Salad

 

 

My Grandma lives alone however she still likes to cook. I went to visit her and she had made this pea salad as a side dish to go with our lunch. I liked it a lot so I asked her for the recipe. She likes to take this to church outings and parties as a covered dish because it is not your common potato salad or macaroni salad, and it also has a very nice color appeal. (Yields 6-8)

My Grandma lives alone however she still likes to cook. I went to visit her and she had made this pea salad as a side dish to go with our lunch. I liked it a lot so I asked her for the recipe. She likes to take this to church outings and parties as a covered dish because it is not your common potato salad or macaroni salad, and it also has a very nice color appeal. (Yields 6-8)

What you will need:

1 16 oz can of English peas

1 16 oz can whole kernel sweet corn

1 green bell pepper diced

5-9 Scallions chopped

1 2 oz jar pimentos

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup white vinegar

Process:

1. Boil oil, sugar, and vinegar

2. Pour over vegetables

3. Cover and refrigerate over night

4. Serve chilled

Cream Cheese and Onion Cracker Dip

2 Bars of you favorite cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)

3 scallions sliced and finely diced

1 cups of finely sliced and chopped ham

In a bowl mix well and serve chilled and is best with Trisquit Rosemary and Olive oil or Garden Harvest Wheat Thins crackers. For an excellent twist add 1/4 cup or so of your favorite shredded cheese and 1/4 cup of sliced black olives. This is a quick and easy dip to make and can easily be multiplied to accommodate your crowd size.

Quick Fix Bread Bowl

1large container of Publix Spinich Dip

1 Sweet round hawian bread

With a knife cut a bowl out of the center of the bread and add the dip. On a side plate slice your cut top piece into bite sized pieces and leave next to the bread bowl and dip. Add a spoon and serve chilled. I will warn that I made 4 of these for a party with about 30 people and they went over so well that 4 was not enough. Each bowl costs about $6.00 to make but it is easy, mess free, and it great for when you are in a rush.