# Macaroni Salad



## lyndalou (Jun 30, 2011)

Hi Everyone,

I have been asked to bring a macaroni salad to a friend's July 4th cookout. I have one that I make, but wonder if any of you have a TNT that I can try?

Thanks


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## Andy M. (Jun 30, 2011)

Are you looking for a baked M&C recipe or a stove top recipe?


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## justplainbill (Jun 30, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> Are you looking for a baked M&C recipe or a stove top recipe?


I think she's talking about a cold macaroni salad with a mayonnaise based dressing containing hebs and red peppers.


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## buckytom (Jun 30, 2011)

diced celery, red onion, fennel, yellow and green bell peppers, and carrots with a garlic mayo and chopped fresh parsely mixed with elbow mac is one of my favourites.

or, you can sub out the mayo with tsatsiki sauce made from low fat yoghurt, garlic, and red wine vinegar if you want a healthier twist.


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## Andy M. (Jun 30, 2011)

justplainbill said:


> I think she's talking about a cold macaroni salad with a mayonnaise based dressing containing hebs and red peppers.



Right!  I missed that.  Thanks,


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## pacanis (Jun 30, 2011)

I like my macaroni pretty basic, elbow macaroni, a little celery, a little green pepper, half as much onion, a little carrot for color. For the dressing: mayo, a teeny little bit of yellow mustard and a hard boiled egg mixed in.
And then there's pickle, tuna fish, bacon bits... but I like a more simple version.

ETA: I _make_ or _prefer_ a more simple version. I eat them all, lol.


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## kadesma (Jun 30, 2011)

I make mine with diced celery,diced dill or sweet pickles,one med sweet onion, fresh chopped parsley, or cilantro if you like it, chopped black olives diced hard cooked eggs about 4 mayo  mixed with miracle whipped if you like it or all mayo and some Dijon we like it rather dry so I go easy on the mayo and mustard.
kades


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## JMediger (Jun 30, 2011)

Elbow Mac, mayo, a little yellow mustard, chopped boiled egg, chunks of cheddar cheese, a bit of onion of green peas.  Salt and pepper to taste.  I really like a bit of dill pickle relish but DH doesn't so we compromise and I just add it to my own serving.  Simple, simple, simple ...


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## lyndalou (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks Everyone!!!


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## BreezyCooking (Jul 1, 2011)

This one has always been a crowd-pleaser around here:

Breezy Macaroni Salad
(Unless otherwise specified, all amounts are "to taste".)

1 box (1 pound) Elbow Macaroni (I like Barilla brand)
Approx. 1 to 1-1/2 cups frozen green peas
Mayonnaise
Chopped sweet onion (like Vidalia, etc.)
Chopped red bell Pepper
1 green Jalapeno pepper, seeded & minced
Chopped celery
Chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
Sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes (the regular supermarket "block" - this is not the time to buy pricey aged cheddar - lol!)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Cook macaroni according to package directions, adding in frozen peas during the last 2 minutes of cooking time.  Drain in a colander & set aside to cool.

When cook, gently combine macaroni & peas with all other ingredients in a large bowl & chill until serving time.

Variations:  I sometimes add diced turkey ham to this as well, & any leftovers make a fabulous lunch with a can of tuna folded in.


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## Snip 13 (Jul 2, 2011)

I make mine with sweetcorn, finely chopped spring onion, fresh peas, cherry tomatoes, chopped chillies, yellow bell pepper, mayo, a bit of condensed milk, some english mustard, aromat and blackpepper.


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## CWS4322 (Jul 2, 2011)

I always toss some celery seed and dill seed in with the noodles when I cook them.


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## the A Cappellan (Jul 2, 2011)

2 lb Elbow Mac, al dente' and cooled with a tab of salted butter/margarine. Zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon, mince yellow and red sm onion,finely chop half a red/gr pepper, 3 carrots,4 stalks celery,3 tbls yellow mustard,2 tbls garlic, 4 oz sweet relish, 4oz mayo or sweet vinegret (your choice, as are eggs.) dashes of black pepper, onion salt, paprika garnish with lots of parsley.  Keep cold in ice bathe bowl, test it and add more of what 2 people suggest. Then
serve,  discard after two hours outside for safety of guests .


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## luckytrim (Jul 3, 2011)

MY "SUNDAY BEST" MACARONI  SALAD

 4 c. cooked macaroni
1 1/2 c. cooked peas
1 sm. onion, diced
  4 hard boiled eggs, cubed
1 hard boiled egg, sliced, for garnish
1/2 c. finely chopped green pepper
1 1/2 c. mild cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 c. deli ham, small dice
1/4 c. pickle relish (or sub. 3 TBL. yellow mustard)
  1/2 tsp. Black pepper
  combine all ingredients and mix gently till everything is blended.
  Add 1 1/2 - 2 c. Hellman's mayo (do not use salad dressing) and mix gently till all is coated.
  Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving

Note;  Sometimes, when I can afford it, I rough-chop a 1/2 - pound mess of shrimps and add to the mix........


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## CWS4322 (Jul 3, 2011)

When we would do shore lunch at Lake of the Woods, we'd take the following:

4-5 c cooked pasta (usually used spiral noodles)--when we'd cook these, we'd toss in 1-2 T celery seed and 1 tsp dill seed
chopped black olives
green olives--sliced
1 c cheese--cubed
tomatoes
corn
celery
onion
green onion
fresh oragano
1 tsp anchovy paste
1 c leftover chicken/lake trout
1 bottle Italian Salad dressing
Parmasean cheese
S&P

Put in a tupperware container, and shake it up. Put it in a cooler and go out in the boat for about 3 hours--find an island, pull ashore-fry the walleyes caught in a CI, and eat the salad with the fish. Spread out on the warm granite rocks, take a nap, and then slip into the cold lake water before getting back in the boat. Catch a few walleye on the way home--clean those, fry those and eat any left-over salad you left in the fridge. Go to bed when the sun goes down and get up at sunrise and do it all again.


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## purple.alien.giraffe (Jul 3, 2011)

Snip 13 said:


> I make mine with sweetcorn, finely chopped spring onion, fresh peas, cherry tomatoes, chopped chillies, yellow bell pepper, mayo, a bit of condensed milk, some english mustard, aromat and blackpepper.



Aromat?


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## Littlechef (Jul 3, 2011)

Luckytrim ... that is one beautiful pasta salad.  I think I'll bring this to our cookout tomorrow at our friend's house. Thank you for sharing your recipe and for the picture.


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## Oldvine (Jul 3, 2011)

Bow tie pasta, cooked per package directions
Snow peas, cut in half, steamed/cooked crisp
artichoke hearts, cut to bite size pieces
olives
chopped celery
chopped onions
maybe some sliced radishes
a little parsley
tossed with a good Italian dressing... no mayo
sometimes I add broccoli florets
I've also used the colored pasta


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## the A Cappellan (Jul 3, 2011)

*Mac Salad*

Looks Great, I just can't do the eggs.  What time are you serving. I will bring a case of Cold Water.  Yum.


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## vitauta (Jul 10, 2011)

what liquid should i add to my macaroni salad?  i keep stirring in more mayo but it quickly disappears, leaving my salad dry again.  this always happens.  i'd like to lighten up on the mayo but i don't see how. help.


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## CWS4322 (Jul 10, 2011)

You can use greek yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, half-and-half. I would think you could even use chicken broth...I make a shrimp pasta salad that uses half-and-half and mayo.


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## vitauta (Jul 10, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> You can use greek yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, half-and-half. I would think you could even use chicken broth...I make a shrimp pasta salad that uses half-and-half and mayo.




you had some good ideas to share for making macaroni salad, cws. i followed a couple of  them with good results:  i tossed some celery seed and dried onion in with the pasta cooking water.  adding a small amount of 1/2 and 1/2 to my salad seemed to bring the mayo in it back to life.  to my personal salad bowl i added some gambino's olive salad.  this gave the salad a nice oily finish as well as the "umph" that (imo) it had been lacking. thanks.


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## CWS4322 (Jul 10, 2011)

I will add dried basil, oregano, and marjoram to the pasta when I'm making a pasta salad using an Italian salad dressing instead of mayo.


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## vitauta (Jul 10, 2011)

Oldvine said:


> Bow tie pasta, cooked per package directions
> Snow peas, cut in half, steamed/cooked crisp
> artichoke hearts, cut to bite size pieces
> olives
> ...



this pasta salad looks like a keeper and a winner! it's what i'm making next time.  what italian dressing do you like for it?


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## luckytrim (Jul 11, 2011)

.............are you chilling (or at least cooling) the noodles before adding mayo ?
That's all I can think of..............


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## vitauta (Jul 11, 2011)

luckytrim said:


> .............are you chilling (or at least cooling) the noodles before adding mayo ?
> That's all I can think of..............




nope, they're lukewarmish.  is that my prob?


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## john_722 (Jul 11, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> I always toss some celery seed and dill seed in with the noodles when I cook them.



What good does that do for the flavor of the noodles?


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## CWS4322 (Jul 12, 2011)

I don't know--but some of the seeds cling to the noodles and seem to enhance the flavor...my grandma made the best pasta salads and she always did this. Give it a try and let us know if you think it makes a difference or not. Maybe do a test where you make one with adding the seeds and the other without, but that is the only difference in the recipe.


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## john_722 (Jul 12, 2011)

CWS4322 said:


> I don't know--but some of the seeds cling to the noodles and seem to enhance the flavor...my grandma made the best pasta salads and she always did this. Give it a try and let us know if you think it makes a difference or not. Maybe do a test where you make one with adding the seeds and the other without, but that is the only difference in the recipe.



I'll try the recipe


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## john_722 (Jul 12, 2011)

BreezyCooking said:


> This one has always been a crowd-pleaser around here:
> 
> 1 box (1 pound) Elbow Macaroni (I like Barilla brand)
> 
> ...


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## luckytrim (Jul 12, 2011)

john_722 said:


> What good does that do for the flavor of the noodles?



I'm told that the ONLY time that noodles absorb flavor is during the cooking process............. could be wrong, but that's what I hear constantly from my fave "chefs"


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## vitauta (Jul 12, 2011)

luckytrim said:


> I'm told that the ONLY time that noodles absorb flavor is during the cooking process............. could be wrong, but that's what I hear constantly from my fave "chefs"



so then adding celery seed or dill weed should help flavor the noodles, like we know adding salt does...right?


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## Andy M. (Jul 12, 2011)

luckytrim said:


> I'm told that the ONLY time that noodles absorb flavor is during the cooking process............. could be wrong, but that's what I hear constantly from my fave "chefs"




You should try making the famous SESAME NOODLES recipe.  You start with cooked noodles sitting in a pool of sesame oil, rice vinegar, etc. then you keep tossing it every five minutes and magically all the liquid has been absorbed by the noodles.  Besides, it tastes great!


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## vitauta (Jul 12, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> You should try making the famous SESAME NOODLES recipe.  You start with cooked noodles sitting in a pool of sesame oil, rice vinegar, etc. then you keep tossing it every five minutes and magically all the liquid has been absorbed by the noodles.  Besides, it tastes great!



sesame noodles - a fine spicy hot weather choice too, soo good! never tried making them myself before--you make it sound easy though....


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## Andy M. (Jul 12, 2011)

Here's the recipe.  It's listed in two different quantities.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/iso-sesame-noodles-68813.html#post945430


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## vitauta (Jul 12, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> Here's the recipe.  It's listed in two different quantities.
> 
> http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/iso-sesame-noodles-68813.html#post945430



i hope you know that i'm going to have to buy every one of the ingredients in this recipe in order to make my sesame noodles!  s'okay though, i'll have everything i need to make them again the next times--thanks.


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## CWS4322 (Jul 13, 2011)

vitauta said:


> so then adding celery seed or dill weed should help flavor the noodles, like we know adding salt does...right?


 I guess--it is just what we've always done when making pasta salads (or potato salads, or spaghetti...or other pasta dishes. I thought everyone did this).

Hmmm--guess my grandma was a better cook than I thought, and she was a DARNED good cook. baker, maker of pickles, etc. Not to mention, she was the best fisherman when we went fishing. She always caught the most walleye. And, she had a very green thumb. Oh--could I like to think it is genetic and I inherited some of that!!!


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## CWS4322 (Jul 13, 2011)

Speaking of pasta salads--I used to be able to buy Cora's ring pasta. I haven't seen that for years (I have been hoarding my last box). Is it still available? (I haven't googled to find that--I did find a source for Swedish Brown Beans and have ordered some for when I'm in MN).


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## vitauta (Jul 20, 2011)

with all this hot weather we've been having, i find myself making macaroni salad for the third time in two weeks.  the problem i'm having seems so basic that i'm embarrassed to reveal it even in this friendly forum.  when boiling the pasta for the salad, i don't ever know how much i will need.  sometimes, 1/2 lb. is all i need, other times 1 lb. is not enough to make a large bowl of macaroni salad.  what causes the pasta to swell a lot or hardly at all - amount of water, brand of pasta, cooking time, what?  i actually prefer the macaronis to stay small, but i mainly just need to know in advance how my pasta is going to behave....


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## Dawgluver (Jul 20, 2011)

Andy M. said:
			
		

> Here's the recipe.  It's listed in two different quantities.
> 
> http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/iso-sesame-noodles-68813.html#post945430



C and P in my Recipe Box.  Thanks Andy!


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## JMediger (Jul 23, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> Here's the recipe.  It's listed in two different quantities.
> 
> http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/iso-sesame-noodles-68813.html#post945430



Oh my goodness!  How did I miss this when it was originally posted?!  Thank you for resharing - on the list for dinner next week.  How do you think thin sliced radishes would taste tossed in?


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