Jen's favorite traditional macaroni salad

prep time:: 40 min
total time:: 40 min

Makes 10-12 servings

This is a very traditional mayonnaise-based macaroni salad. It has tons of flavor and is easy to make for parties and pot lucks.

ingredients

1 lb. elbow macaroni
3 stalks celery, chopped fine
3 shallots, minced fine
1 T. grainy dijon mustard
2 T. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 c. chopped parsley
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 and 1/2 c. regular mayonnaise

directions

1
Place 4 qts. of water in a large stock pot to boil. Add 1 T. table salt to water, or 2 T. kosher salt. When water comes to a boil, add 1 lb. of macaroni, stir, and set timer for 8 minutes.
2
Meanwhile, in a very large bowl: add all other ingredients except mayo.
3
When macaroni is done (I find it usually takes 10 minutes, but start tasting after 8), drain in a colander under cold running water to stop cooking. Rinse until very cold. Do not shake off excess water, it is good to add slightly wet pasta.
4
Add cold macaroni to bowl with ingredients. Stir well to mix flavors, and make sure to set aside for at least 5 minutes. The pasta will absorb the lemon, spices and mustard, and take on other flavors.
5
Add the mayonnaise and mix well with a spatula. It should look wet, but nothing like the mayo-drenched salads from the grocery store. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at at least several hours. Check on consistency, stirring well. If at any time over the next several days the mixture begins to look dry, do not add more mayo! Add water by tablespoons, and mix. This will freshen up the salad to perfect consistency without making it overly heavy or adding more calories.
6
** This is also nice with chopped hard-boiled egg.

notes

This salad is best with regular mayonnaise. You can make it with light mayo, but you will need to increase the amounts of the other ingredients (lemon, salt, pepper, etc.) in order to compensate for the added sweetness of light mayo.

Source: Jennifer