In cooler months, I like to make a piping hot casserole of macaroni and cheese. It’s a comforting dish I’ll often serve with sausages baked in the oven beside it.
I also sometimes get a craving for that combination on a warm summer day. And when I do, I’ll cool things down by using the macaroni in a chilled salad rich with cheese, then head outdoors to grill sausages on my barbecue.
The salad I most often make is an old-school one that’s very much like a creamy potato salad, with cold cooked macaroni replacing the potatoes.
The dressing is mayonnaise-based and enriched with a bit of sour cream, mustard and other condiments, tangy vinegar and, to balance the latter’s acidity, a touch of honey.
Tossed in with the cooked macaroni is chopped celery, grated carrots, sliced green onions, chopped dill pickles, chopped parsley and small cubes of aged cheddar cheese.
The result is as comforting as a hot casserole of mac and cheese except cool enough for an August day.
As for the sausages, I used bratwurst, a fresh, nicely seasoned, German-style sausage often made with pork, which grills well. It’s sold at many grocery stores and butcher shops and also works well with the other side dish I served: barbecued onions.
To make them, sliced onions are sautéed until very tender, flavoured with spices, then moistened with stock and barbecue sauce.
You could serve any other type of fresh sausage with the onions and mac and cheese salad, whether pork, turkey, chicken or plant-based.
The sausages and salad both serve six.
Grilled Sausages with Barbecued Onions
Charred, juicy sausages served with tender onions flavoured with barbecue sauce and spice.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 to 22 minutes
Makes: six servings
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 cups thinly sliced onion (see Note)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked or regular paprika
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/3 cup regular barbecue sauce, or to taste
1/3 cup chicken stock or beer
6 large (about 160 to 180 gram), or 12 small to medium (about 80 to 90 gram), fresh bratwurst sausages, or any other type of sausages you think would work with the onions
Place the oil in a very large skillet set over medium, medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until quite tender, about seven to eight minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, paprika and pepper and cook one minute more. Mix in the barbecue sauce and stock (or beer), bring to a simmer, and then remove onions from the heat.
Preheat your barbecue or indoor grill to medium-high. Set the sausages on the grill and cook about 10 to 12 minutes, turning them occasionally, or until entirely cooked through and the centre of each one reaches 160 F (71 C) on an instant-read meat thermometer.
While the sausages grill, set the onions over medium-low heat to warm up. When the sausages are cooked, serve them on a bed of the onions.
Note: Two medium onions, halved and thinly sliced, should yield the amount needed here.
Mac and Cheese Salad
This tangy, creamy, macaroni salad is rich with bits of cheddar cheese, pickles and raw vegetables. It will go great with grilled sausages and other foods cooked on a barbecue, such as ribs and chicken.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: about 10 to 12 minutes
Makes: six servings
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp yellow prepared mustard
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp honey
• a few splashes of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
100 to 150 grams aged cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
1 medium rib of celery, finely diced
2 green onions, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced, widthwise
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup finely diced dill pickles (about 2 small to medium pickles), or to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Bring a large of pot of lightly salted water to a simmer over medium, medium-high heat. Add the macaroni, return to a simmer, and cook until just tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain macaroni well, cool in ice-cold water, then drain well again.
Place mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, vinegar, honey, Tabasco, Worcestershire, salt and pepper in a salad bowl and whisk to combine. Add the macaroni, cheese, celery, onion, carrot, pickles and parsley and mix to combine. Cover and refrigerate salad until needed. It can be made many hours before serving.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
