Once you have the basic macaroni salad constructed, you need to decide how you want to dress your salad. You could sprinkle it with herbs and add salt and pepper and leave it at that. Sometimes, simple is best.

You could prepare a vinaigrette-type dressing, which is always good if you are going to be eating it in the heat of an outdoor event, as it won’t spoil. You could opt for sour cream, Greek yogurt or mayonnaise. You could opt for a sweet and sour profile, by combining honey and mustard or vinegar, as was done in this recipe.

 

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. dry elbow macaroni

1/2 cup Hellmann’s or Best Foods Mayonnaise

1/2 cup fat free or low fat plain Greek yogurt

1 1/2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp honey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 steamed or hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1 cup diced red bell pepper

1 cup matchstick carrots, roughly chopped

3/4 cup diced celery

1/4 cup diced red onion

1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

 

DIRECTIONS

Cook macaroni in salted water according to directions on package (I added about 1/2 Tbsp. salt to the water). Drain and rinse with cold water until completely cool. Let drain very well.

In a medium mixing bowl stir together mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, vinegar, mustard, honey, and season with salt and pepper to taste (start with about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper then add more salt after you’ve added the dressing to the pasta. If you cooked the pasta in fairly salty water you won’t want to overdo it).

Add well drained macaroni to a large mixing bowl along with eggs, bell pepper, carrots, celery and onion (if you like to have some color over you salad I like set aside some of the veggies to sprinkle over the top). Pour dressing over top, add in parsley and toss mixture to evenly coat. Serve or store in refrigerator up to 1 day.

 

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Quick Tip:  Try adding a crunchy element to this salad by adding your favorite type of nuts (slivered almonds, chopped walnuts or pecan halves would taste great) or seeds (pumpkin, sunflower or hemp, maybe?) to this salad.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Jaclyn at cookingclassy.com