macaroni salad

 It can be hard to find a recipe for macaroni salad in a cookbook. Is it in the salad section? Is it  in the pasta section? Side dishes?

My favorite place to look for recipes is online...mostly Allrecipes.com.

That's where I found this macaroni salad recipe.  I was put off by the amount of sugar it calls for...but it had a lot of good reviews so I tried it...and it's the one I use every time now.
It's good!

Let's get started...

Macaroni Salad
16 oz uncooked macaroni
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper,chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 Tbsp. chopped pimento peppers (optional)
1 cup Miracle Whip
1/4 cup white vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
2  1/2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Cook the macaroni, leaving it a bit firm. Rinse with cold water and drain.
( I have read that you shouldn't add oil or butter to the water when cooking pasta...it causes any type of sauce to slide right off of it later.)

Toss with all the chopped veggies in a large bowl. (I had a red pepper on hand...so I used that instead of those expensive little jars of pimentos.)

In a seperate bowl combine Miracle Whip, vinegar, sugar and mustard. (The original recipe said to use mayonaise but I always buy Miracle Whip and use it for everything. It has a whole lot less fat and calories.)
Add salt and pepper and mix well.

Pour dressing mixture over macaroni and veggies and gently stir to coat. Refrigerate overnight.

The macaroni will soak up some of the sauce and get a little softer. You may need to stir in a little more Miracle Whip before serving.

Makes a boat load.