Spring Delish-Dish!

Despite the ups and downs of warm days and freezing days in West Texas, spring is the wake-up call for cooking on the grill, and one side dish I seldom tire of making and eating is macaroni salad. The fun of making macaroni salad in the comfort of your kitchen is you can make it anyway your taste buds desire. There are as many different types of macaroni salads as there are dialects in America. Miles and I  went to Boston last summer for a much delayed honeymoon, and there were a few miscommunications between the lack of rs and the slow draw of syllables. If it wasn't for the love of our families, including Fast Eddie and Gatsby, we wouldn't have returned to the winds and relative mundane of our small city. Maybe in another life.

Don't confuse macaroni salad with pasta salad. Most pasta salads can be made with almost any pasta and can be hot or cold. Macaroni salad is almost exclusively made with elbow macaroni. Remember making macaroni figures in elementary school? Gluing on the little curved noodles and maybe painting them or sprinkling on glitter? I don't know if teacher still do that, and I still don't understand why we ever did it in the first place! Why was that type of pasta chosen over all the others? I'm just glad it had a better use than some kind of bastardized Picasso art.

Basic macaroni salad is made with mayonnaise and various vegetables and boiled eggs mixed together. I'm going to show you how I made a small batch for me one day with what I had on hand, but the recipe I've included at the bottom of this post is for a  regular size side for a barbecue or ham dinner. It's a very basic version, as most of my recipes are, and after you make it once and feel confident in how you did, you can alter it to fit your own needs.

The first thing you want to do is set a medium pot of water to boil. If you are in a rush you can speed up the process by putting a lid on the pot. A covered pot or skillet will cook faster than a lidless one will.

While waiting for the water to boil, get out all your ingredients you need to prepare. I had a left over boiled egg, green onions, cheddar cheese, and jalapeno.

 I normally make my macaroni salad with the previous ingredients, only substituting celery for the jalapeno. I was sad I didn't have any celery, because I like the crunch in opposition of the softness of the macaroni. I decided jalapeno has a good crunch and it was a brilliant substitute. I did use the celery salt because I like the flavor. Never think a recipe can't be altered. And don't be afraid of screwing up, it's just food, not a major life decision. Michael Jordan said you can't succeed without failing. Any arguments?

Once the water boils, add your macaroni and stir. For my single serving I probably poured in about 3/4 cup. I seldom measure because of experience, but if you are new to cooking, stick to rules. Cook the macaroni according to the package, or maybe even a few minutes less. Nothing is more gross than squishy macaroni salad. I know. I've made it more than once. Don't worry about it being crunchy. I always did, but it won't be.

Chop, slice, shred what you want to add to the macaroni. I chopped the boiled egg, sliced the green onions, cubed the cheddar cheese, and minced the jalapeno.

Once the macaroni is cooked, immediately drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. This stops the cooking process. I'm impatient so there were many times when all I did was rinse the noodles, draining well, and add my ingredients. Even after the cold water rinse, the noodles still radiate heat and if you add cheese like I do, whether cubed or shredded, it starts melting, and that's plain disgusting. Hot macaroni and melted cheese-YES. Cold macaroni and partially melted cheese-Hail to the NO! Take your time and throw the cooked macaroni in the frig. I like to put it in the dish or plastic tub I'm going to mix it in.

After 10-15 minutes cooling in the frig, it's time to start adding your preparations. For a purely personal preference I like to add the chopped egg last, because before I add the mayo I like to season with salt and pepper, and I think it sticks better to the egg than the vegetables.

Like the tuna salad in the previous post, gradually add the mayo, stirring after each small addition. Again, many times through impatience, I have added a huge glob of mayo, only to start mixing and realize it's too much. Now I take my time and add, mix, add, mix. Yes, the forkful of heaven went in my mouth after taking this picture!

I've never added raw garlic to this recipe, as much as I proclaim anything with garlic is just that much better, but a few shakes of garlic salt would work. You could also add chopped olives, pickles, relish, nuts, Tabasco, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, or anything your heart dreams. My personal favorite is to add chopped pickled beets. Start simple and each time you try this recipe, make it a little different. You won't be hurting anyone. One of the most valuable  lessons I've ever learned in my 30 years of cooking came from my husband as a fledgling chef: "Don't worry. Throw it out and start over." Unless you are on the brink of starvation or your family or guests are waiting on this one dish to sit down and eat, what does it matter? You aren't out thousands of dollars or precious time. No harm, no foul. Besides, a dish like this should be made well in advance, as much as a day or two, or at least well in advance of the rest of the meal. You have plenty of time to start over, unless you've run out of ingredients, then you weren't too well prepared. Don't worry. It all works out.

Macaroni Salad

small elbow Macaroni

boiled Eggs

Celery, chopped

green Onions, chopped

Cheddar cheese, shredded

Mayo

Salt & Pepper

Boil as much macaroni in a pot as needed for 6 minutes-no longer. As a rule of thumb, think of a cup(8 oz)of uncooked macaroni enough for two people. Begin timing when the water is at a rolling boil and you have put the macaroni in. Be sure and stir every few minutes to keep the pasta from sticking to the pot. 

Drain the macaroni in a colander and run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking. Drain well. Put the pasta in a mixing bowl bigger than the amount of pasta and cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about a10-15 minutes.

While the pasta is cooling, use leftover boiled eggs or boil some eggs while the macaroni is cooking. Average two boiled eggs per cup, more or less according to your preference. Peel and chop eggs. Chop 1/2 to 1 stick of celery. Chop one green onion per cup of pasta.

When the pasta is cold, add the eggs, celery, and onion. Add about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese per cup of pasta, more or less according to your preference. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. 

Add mayo a little at a time, until the mixture is coated but not gooey. 

You can substitute onion powder for the green onions. This is a basic recipe to begin with, so try it and then check out other ones on the internet.