Amish Macaroni Salad – For your outdoor events, skip the hot sides and instead enjoy the creamy coolness of this classic summer macaroni salad.
Like almost every American kid, I grew up looking forward to Memorial Day and 4th of July picnics. I mostly remember them being hot. Us kids would spend picnic afternoons running around in the grass that my dad had freshly mowed until the grass clippings stuck to our sweaty foreheads. We’d all play a horribly embarrassing game of croquet after which the grown-ups would sit in lawn chairs and drink from cold cans of beer that dripped with condensation from the hot and humid Philadelphia air.
If we weren’t too annoying we could talk my parents into letting us play in the sprinkler. That didn’t always work out for us though… Fortunately, once the sun set the heat and humidity would settle (a little) and the fun could really begin. We’d have a family picnic followed by lightning-bug-catching, bottle rockets, and sparklers. It was everything an American kid could want from a hot summer night.
My family always put on quite the picnic spread. The hamburgers and hot dogs were always great, but my favorite part of a summer picnic has always been the assortment of cool homemade salads. In addition to tasting great, they keep you feeling cool.
Over the years I’ve been more of a pasta salad kind of girl, as opposed to the ubiquitous Amish Macaroni Salad, which I’ve always found just a little bit boring. That’s why the recipe I’ve developed for my blog is more of the “loaded” variety. It has tons of celery, onion, and red and green bell peppers, but the key is in the dressing. In addition to traditional mayo, mustard, and white vinegar, I added sweet relish and celery seeds.
Ingredients:
1 lb salad macaroni
4 hard-boiled eggs (chopped)
1 small onion, finely diced
3 celery ribs, diced small
1 small sweet pepper, seeded and diced small (red or orange)
Dressing
2 cups light mayonnaise (do not use Miracle Whip)
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup yellow mustard
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish
1 tablespoon white vinegar or 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon salt
paprika (to garnish)
Instructions:
Cook the macaroni according to directions, drain well.
While pasta is cooking mix up all the dressing ingredients till well blended and set aside.
Chop up all the veggies.
When macaroni has cooled and drained well mix in the dressing (add all of it if you like very creamy salad.if you don’t like a lot of dressing leave out about 1/2-3/4 c of the dressing. Remember that as it sets it will soak up some of the dressing.
Refrigerate for at least one hour, the longer you let it set the better the flavor.
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