Are you looking for deli style macaroni salad, or pasta salad?

For me, the former is too mayonnaisey, and the latter too olive oily, and the fat carries most of the flavor, so check with your daughter and husband to make sure you know what they want it to taste like. The former is usually made with ditalini and the later is made with large shells or rotelli.

I sometimes like it if it's in between, and chilled well, and if it's made with a thin pasta. The ditalini are good--they have a fun mouth feel. Also orzo, Israeli couscous, mini elbows, or shells. Add lots of finely chopped vegetables: multicolored bell peppers, scallions, cucumbers, carrots, celery, broccoli, peas, string beans, artichoke hears, corn. Any or all. Some people lightly steam carrots, brocolli, beans and anything else that seems more hard than crunchy, and corn must be cooked. Add seasoning and dressing. I prefer a small amount of mayonnaise or vinaigrette. For me, EVOO is way too strong for what is essentially an almost bland dish. It's good when most of the flavor comes from the veggies.

Some people love macaroni salad with salty things like ham and cheddar in it.

I make 2 kinds of pasta/macaroni salad.
One with mayo, pickle relish and onions as a dressing....and cooked pasta, chopped cucumber, green and red peppers, sweet onions and bits of pepperoni.
I make another with a honey/dijon vinaigrette (recipe to follow) and lots of veggies, cuke, peppers, chopped green onions, chopped broccoli, pea pods, sliced radishes, cubed zucchini, sliced mushrooms and some shredded red cabbage.
I blanch the broccoli and carrot buttons in boiling water for 1 minute...but the rest of the veggies are raw.
Put the veggies into your bowl...add enough of the dressing to moisten and toss....add cooked pasta as much as you want....add more dressing to moisten and toss.
I use many different shapes of pasta, fusili, and penne are the ones I use most often.
Here's the dressing I use....and I don't find Extra Virgin Olive oil too "strong"...in fact I like the fruity flavor in this dressing better than canola or safflower or soybean oil.
2 T prepared dijon mustard
2T honey
1 clove garlic crushed
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2/3 cup EVOO
1 tsp dried oregano
1 T ( or more) grated Parmesan cheese.
Mix the spices, honey and vinegar and mustard....slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking until it's thorougly mixed.

Any dressing you don't use on the pasta works well on a green salad.
Hope you enjoy the salad.
Linda C

I prefer pasta salads with an olive oil vinaigrette - I use tri-colored fusilli, sliced black kalamatas, diced sweet red bell pepper, diced red onion. I buy Christo's Greek dressing, which has a lot of oregano. Sometimes I add cubed feta and chopped marinated artichoke hearts. Maybe some other stuff - I can't remember.

When I have macaroni salad, I make it the way my mom did when I was a kid. A box of elbow macaroni, cooked. Chopped hard boiled eggs, diced sweet red bell pepper, thinly sliced celery hearts, diced onion (Vidalias now), salt, pepper and Hellman's mayo. Sometimes she would add sliced pimento stuffed green olives. This makes a nice "stiff" salad and you don't need too much mayo. No pickle juice in the macaroni salad but she always used pickle juice in her potato salad.

I could eat bowls of either of her salads. I don't make them often because of that but now I'm craving some thank you very much!!

seagrass

I love homemade pasta/macaroni salad! The ones from the deli that are swimming in some sort of viscuous liquid I do not care for... but home made, whether mayo based, vinaigrette based or somewhere in between, I love. This is my basic mayo version.

Mayo based:
1 box mini elbows made per directions on the box
1 cup shredded carrot
1 peeled and seeded cuke, chopped into 1/4 inch dice
1/2 red onion chopped into tiny dice
1 Tbsp sweet pickle relish
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
1 cup mayo
2 tbsp sweet pickle juice

Cook macaroni per box directions, run under cold water to cool it quickly. Mix mayo, sweet relish and pickle juice. Add S&P if needed. Toss all ingredients together and add dressing. Chill.

A girlfriend and I catered a picnic lunch today for the local museum benefactors and among other things, we made a pasta salad which I thought turned out pretty good. The following recipe is what we did - it was really easy, inexpensive and colorful.

2 boxes of tri-colored rotini (24 ounces)
3 bell peppers - red, green and yellow, chopped
a large red onion, chopped
1 pound of mozarella, cubed small
1 botle of Kraft Zesty Italian salad dressing

We served it in tomato cups and had olives on the side, otherwise I would have added some chopped tomato and sliced olives.

Becky

Thank you for the recipes! Much appreciated.

Wehnever I serve pasta salad it's usually part of a BBQ, picnic or cold mealthat includes potato salad so I prefer a vinegar and oil based pasta salad. This recipe of Woodie's is my all time favourite.

Pasta Salad - Woodie

1 lb small shell macaroni,cooke and drained
1/2 lb provolone cheese,diced
1/2 lb salami,diced
1/2 lb pepperoni,cut in cubes
3 lb tomatoes,seeded and diced
3 ribs celery,diced
1 green or red pepper,diced
1 can black olives
1 jar pimento stuffed green olives
1 red onion,diced
DRESSING
3/4 cup oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoon salt fresh ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp basil celery salt to taste

Mix dressing and pour over pasta, refrigerate until serving.

I like homemade pasta salads, too...all types! Here are a couple that are a little different.

Caesar Pasta Salad
From Cooking Light
3 c. cooked Penne pasta
2 c. chopped Romaine lettuce
1-1/2 c. halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil
1/2 c. chopped green onion
1/3 c Caesar dressing
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
4 oz. crumbled Feta cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
3 c. shredded cooked chicken breast

Pasta salad is one of the all time great ways to make a quick meal out of bits and pieces. You can play with it so much. However, macaroni salad is one of those things (like spaghetti sauce or chicken soup) that most everyone has specific likes and dislikes...I find most folks cling to the way it was made when they were children. A comfort food thing.

I have never liked macaroni salad...we never had it when I was a kid, and most versions just taste like bland, squishy, overcooked pasta to me. But, I've fallen in love with one my friend makes and she has promised to show me how she makes it. No recipe, natch.

Pasta salad though, I make fairly frequently. When I make pasta for a dinner, I often cook extra, because in the morning, it makes a quick and easy addition to my husband's lunch as I pack it. Chopped vegies...raw or leftover...some meat or other, some fresh or dried herbs or a dab of pesto, one of whatever dressings I've got going in the fridge, vinaigrette or creamy, some cheese (chunked or grated) and voila my Sweetie has a change from sandwiches!

Macaroni salad is different from pasta salad??

Oh goody, now I know what to do with the bag of orzo I brought home on a whim. Greek Orzo Salad! Thanks!

I do a modification of my Mother's macaroni salad. I always get lots of compliments on it. It has a cool, mild, refreshing taste that goes well with grilled items. I don't measure so the amounts are just a guesstimate.

1 box cooked cold macaroni (don't mix it up when the pasta warm or it will turn the mayo oily)
2 cold chopped hard boiled eggs
3 stalks of chopped celery
1/3 cup of chopped onion
approx 3/4 cup of mayo (I use regular Kraft). It won't be good if it's too dry so use your judgement on the amount.
5 or 6 turns of cracked pepper
5 good shakes of celery salt (I think this is the secret ingredient. Tastes really bland with regular salt)

Mix well and chill

"Macaroni salad is different from pasta salad??"

For me, yes. I have a very concrete vocabulary as far as "macaroni" is concerned lol. It is a small elbow shaped pasta. Kind of like the vocabulary word "lasagna" for me - a certain wide, long thick sometimes curly-edged noodle.

But I come from a mid-western Heinz 57 kind of family. No ethnic cooking traditions, really, except maybe "farm family". Macaroni came in a box with a shape that said, well, "macaroni". The box didn't say "pasta".

Who knew about the whole world of pasta shapes and names for them? I only learned that when I left home and was lucky enough to meet people from other cultures and adventuresome eaters. And gee whiz, look at me, I insist on orecchiette sometimes. My relatives wouldn't know it if it bit them - let alone understand "al dente".

seagrass

Oh I just re-read that and I certainly did not mean to offend anyone. It's just that I come from plain folks who really don't see any reason to get "fancy" with stuff. No interest in exploration when it comes to "what's for dinner".

So - yes, macaroni is just that. Macaroni.

seagrass

Macaroni is the small cut straight tubes kids paint and use as beads in kindergarten, Elbow Macaroni are the curved tubes,Spaghetti is spaghetti...but all the other shapes are, "pasta." :D LOL.

Oh....I thought that we suddenly decided that spaghetti, lunguini, fettuccini, ziti, ditalini as well as elbows are "pasta"....and I didn't know that you used different "stuff" in the salad based on the shape of the...er...uh..."stuff".
So....when you say fetuccuni does it always mean Alfredo? And linguini mean clam sauce? and spaghetti mean meat balls?
Confused here...I make linguini with meatballs and angel hair with clam sauce....what do I know?? LOL!

Since last spring, this has become my family's standard for all Macaroni salads, the only one they want.

It was printed in the Boston Globe May 2009 and is from St Alphonzo's Kitchen, a small restaurant in the South End of Boston.

GRANDMA SIS'S MACARONI SALAD - serves 8

INGREDIENTS

I pound box of elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 small green bell pepper, seeded cored and cut into thin strips or chopped
1/2 red onion coarsely chopped
1 large ribs of celery, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 jar (6-8 ounces) cocktail olives with pimiento, drained and chopped

In large pot with boiling water cook the macaroni for 6-8 minutes or until it is tender but still has some bite.

Drain the macaroni into a colander and shake to remove excess moisture.

Transfer the pasta to a large bowl. Add the vetable oil Sire well and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whick the mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir the mixture into the pasta until it is coated all over.

Add the bell pepper, red onion, celery and olives. Toss gently buth thoroughly. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if desired. Cover and chill for 1 hour before serving.

Personally, I found that there was enough salty taste and seasoning without adding any of the additional salt to the recipe.

Fran

I'm obviously too late for this, but you might consider it for the next time. It's Guy Fieri's version, and really quite good. I really liked the Peppadew and Pepperoncini's, along with all the fresh veggies. It's bright, crunchy and tastes fresh, yet substantial.

Mac Daddy Roni Salad

* 16 ounces macaroni pasta, 1/4-inch tube
* 2 cups mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons minced garlic
* 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
* 1 tablespoon white vinegar
* 3/4 cup minced red onion
* 3/4 cup minced roasted red bell pepper
* 1/2 cup carrot, diced
* 3/4 cup celery, diced
* 1/4 cup diced peppadew peppers
* 1/4 cup minced pepperoncini
* 1 teaspoons sea salt
* 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

In a medium pot, boil water and add salt. Add pasta, cook until al dente, and place into an ice water bath.

In a medium mixing bowl add mayonnaise, garlic, mustard, and vinegar. Mix to combine and place in refrigerator to keep chilled while pasta cools down.

When pasta is cool, mix in mayonnaise mixture and all vegetables. Mix thoroughly, season with salt and pepper. Place into refrigerator and chill for 1 hour for the flavors to combine.

I've tended to shy away from macaroni salad ever since first grade.

A bad batch of the stuff resulted in over 400 kids and teachers in my school (me included) getting food poisoning.

Well, the scariest stuff is that which you don't make yourself...Knowing how the food has been handled has everything to do with the safety of eating it. Personally, I won't touch anything like a mayo based salad unless it's cold when I get to it!

Amazingly, commercial mayo based salads are among the safest.
But also amazingly...school lunchrooms had the worst food safety practises around.
s one example, I walked past the window of the nearby elementary school one afternoon. There was a pile of about 20 pounds of frozen hamburger on the counter...uncovered, thawing....and the cooks were leaving for the day.
I called someone I knew who was in the school system's food service and she told me that was acceptable practise.
I never allowed my kids to eat hot lunch at that school! Told them we couldn't afford it!!
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: mayo safety

8 ounces elbow macaroni or other salad-size pasta
about 2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
1/4 to 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup mayonnaise, plus more as needed to refresh
1/3 cup minced onion
2/3 cup diced bell pepper
(small dice, about the size of corn kernels)
3/4 cup diced sharp cheddar cheese,
about 4 ounces (small dice, about the size of corn kernels)
1-1/2 cups yellow corn kernels (see Corn Note)
Black pepper

I'm surprised no one has mentioned a few shakes of McCormick's Salad Helper. I'd never heard of it till one of my bosses wives brought in a pasta salad, to make on the spot, and used it. I'm not sure of all the ingredients in it but it does have sesame seeds and cheeses in it. Very good flavors. I now use it on both pasta salad and lettuce type salads.

Beth