Monday, August 16, 2010

Macaroni Salad

There are as many different recipes for macaroni salad as there are people making it! You can change it up in so many different ways by adding one thing or another. Of course I'm totally biased, but this is my favorite macaroni salad. Ever. Whenever I make it for a get together I am always asked for the recipe. Even my mom says it's way better than hers! LOL I hope you think it's delicious, too!

I forgot to put the memory card in my camera when I took the *ingredients* picture & I can't find the cable to get it straight off the camera. If I find it I'll add the picture, but for now you just get boring old black letters. Sorry! You'll need:

Macaroni, green bell pepper, celery, onion, apple cider vinegar, sugar, mayonnaise, mustard, salt & pepper.

First step? Boil up your macaroni according to the package directions. When it's done just drain it, run some cold water over it to stop the cooking & then set it aside.

While that is going we'll work on the rest of the stuff. Dice up your veggies! This takes a bit of time. We're not making a CHUNKY macaroni salad - we're just going for CRUNCH! So dice them up on the finer side. I'd say max out at 1/4".


There's your crunch! Now we'll make the dressing. Pour the mustard, mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper in a bowl & then whisk it up!


Now you have your diced veggies, mixed up dressing & cooked macaroni... the magic's about to happen!


You know what's coming next..... Toss it all together!


Now, ideally, you'd chill this in the fridge overnight. And I did... but the next day we had the mad rush of packing for our camping trip so I just threw it into a gallon ziplock bag & put it in the cooler. So I didn't get a picture of it all set up. As it sits in the fridge the macaroni soaks up all the dressing so it's not as runny as it looks in this picture.


THIS IS SOOOOOO GOOD! Seriously. So good. Even if you think you don't like bell peppers or onions, they are so finely diced that you don't just taste it on it's own. You taste it all together. And it's fantastic!

Macaroni Salad

4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2/3 cups white sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 small onion
3 stalks of celery
1 green bell pepper

Boil up your pasta according to package directions. After it's done drain & rinse with cold water. While that's going finely dice your veggies.

In a large bowl whisk together mayo, mustard, vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper.

Stir in the cooked macaroni & diced veggies then stick it in the fridge for at least 4 hours - preferably overnight.

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