A fine August day is the perfect time to revisit this bit o’ mid-century recipe magic from my mom’s recipe box and the nice folk at Kraft foods.
As I noted when I first posted this recipe, I can’t recall my mom ever actually making this salad – no doubt it would’ve been too exotic for my dad’s tastes – but I’ve been wicked pleased with it ever since I discovered it in the mid ’70s; even more so now that I’ve made a few additional adjustments to the original concept…
First, as I did the second time I posted the recipe, I’ve replaced the Catalina French Dressing with my own Tante Marie’s version.
Nice.
And second, I’ve taken a trick I learned from my other favorite macaroni salad recipe and dressed the mac and cheese and Tante Marie’s with the mayonnaise and stashed it in the fridge overnight to allow the pasta to soak up some of that sauce-y goodness.
Nicer. Let’s make a batch!
INGREDIENTS
•1 box mac and cheese dinner
•1/4 cup butter
•1/4 cup milk (+ 1 tbsp for later)
•1/3 cup Tante Marie’s dressing
•1/3 cup mayonnaise (+ 2 tbsp for later)
•Diced onion
•Diced cucumber
•Fresh parsley
•Seasoned salt and pepper
Prepare the mac and cheese as directed on package, then stir in the Tante Marie’s (or go old school and simple and just use Catalina).
Cool, then stir in the 1/3 cup mayonnaise, cover, and stash in the fridge over night.
A few hours before serving, stir in the additional tablespoon of milk and two tablespoons of mayonnaise, then add the fresh veggies of your choice.
Season with salt and pepper, allow to chill through, then serve.
Yum. And that extra bit of milk and mayonnaise makes the salad a bit creamier.
Nice job, if I do say so myself.