This pasta salad can be either a side dish or a lunch main dish depending on the optional addition of diced ham. Without ham, it’s a great side dish for hamburgers or grilled sausage. Add ham and it makes a fantastic lunch salad that works well in a thermos. These are the vegetables I like, but you could change it up with peas, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, or whatever else you have on hand. This year, I made a batch to feed the boys on their first day back to school. The recipe was so big that they had lunch for a couple of days, even with me eating it too. I think it helped those first few early mornings to have lunch in a thermos in the fridge ready to grab and head out the door.
I’ve also made Creamy Macaroni Salad for dinner, with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side. It’s a huge hit on a hot summer evening.
Creamy Macaroni Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 lb. elbow macaroni noodles
- 1 green pepper
- 1 red pepper
- 2 stalks celery
- 4 green onions
- 8 ounces diced ham optional
Dressing:
- 1 cup low fat mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook noodles according to package directions. Cool by adding ice cubes to the noodles, or letting them rest in the fridge.
- Chop the peppers, celery and onions into small pieces, ¼ inch to ½ inch square.
- Mix the dressing in a glass measuring cup.
- Add the chopped vegatables to the cooled noodles, then top with the dressing.
- Toss all ingredients until well combined, and let the salad cool in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
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