Local Style Macaroni Salad
I love Macaroni Salad. My kids love Mac Salad. I make it every other week or so in the summer and bring it to pool parties, bbq’s, or just to the back porch. My history with Mac Salad goes back to my time spent on Lana’i (Hawaii) . After a full day of work my friends and I would go to a local restaurant and get a “mixed plate lunch”. I think it ran about 7 dollars and had one scoop of white rice, one scoop of Mac Salad, some Portuguese sausage, and either beef teriyaki, chicken adobo, or some pan fried Spam (hold your comments….they could rock out some Spam in that place). The “Mixed Plate” was just everything you could ever want. After traveling to other islands, I found that there were different “styles” of Mac Salad. Everyone seems to have a favorite or a story about their mom’s or their family’s take on the recipe. I hope you and your family can change this recipe to fit your likes. Use different kinds of pasta. Add veggies from the garden. Anything goes. Good luck!!
- 1 pound of elbow macaroni, cook al dente (almost done…). Make sure you salt the water before cooking the macaroni….the water should be salty like ocean water.
- I like to cool the macaroni down with cold water to stop the cooking and to give it a head start cooling down.
- Grate 1\4 cup of Vidalia onion (or any sweet onion). Use a cheese grater and get it grated into a big wet pile. Add to chilled macaroni.
- Next add 2-2 1\2 cups of Dukes Mayo. (Please only Dukes). You don’t have to use 2 1\2 cups…you can go light on the mayo here. Add until you are happy.
- Now here is the part that will make your “Local Style” Mac Salad. Add what you like. I add celery, red peppers, and some more diced onion. Some folks love to add frozen peas (add frozen so you can mix them up and they will not mush…they will thaw by the time you are ready to eat). You can add carrots, relish, broccoli….. have at it.
- Last…add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
That is it….please leave a comment or some advice on how you made this recipe your own.
Thanks
C