Easy Macaroni Salad

Happy Day After Memorial Day All!

I hope everyone has/is/had a beautiful day by the pool, lake, beach or maybe just having a great day off! We shall never forget the sacrifice some men and women have made so that we may keep that freedom that we have. Don’t forget this as your sitting around your hamburgers, hotdogs or maybe even a whole bunch of snacks! Today is for them!

Today’s post is about a staple that has been at plenty of cookouts (that I can remember), BBQs, and backyard get togethers. However, I have always had a probably with people adding too much “stuff” to their macaroni salad. People will add sugar, celery, salad dressing you name it I am sure some people have tried to put it in. My mom thinks I am crazy but she still thinks I make the best around.

This is a simple macaroni salad that I have been making since I could cook (so about 13). I used to make it a lot in college and my roommate and I would eat on it through out the week but it usually made it to about day 2 then it was gone. It was such a good light lunch or dinner packed with protein (and carbs…). It was perfect though if you didn’t quite know what you wanted to eat. The beauty of it was that it can be paired with anything.

Simple Macaroni Salad:

16 oz box of Pasta (I will use macaroni or ditalini).

at least a 1 cup of Mayonnaise

1 -2 tsp Mustard

3-4 Hard boiled eggs

1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika (plus some for topping)

1/2 tsp Celery Flakes

1/2 tsp Himalayan Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Honestly all these spices are estimates I usually do a taste test.

Cook your pasta until done. Run cold water over your pasta to cool it down quicker. Chop up your egg and add in with the cool pasta.

Add your mayo and mustard to it and stir. As you are stir sprinkle your spices in. Be careful with the salt because as you add more the dryer it will get over time. I had to add more mayonnaise the next day because it was dried out. Top with some black pepper and paprika and served chilled.

I am about to have this macaroni salad complete with a hamburger, roasted veggies and maybe even a hot dog. I haven’t quite decided if I am going to count calories tonight. I guess we will have to see! However, this beauty has egg which is protein and I have added the mustard spice instead of mustard the condiment and it was really good too! The smoked paprika adds a little bit of flavor to it while the salt just bring it all together. I used to use celery salt but I quickly realized it tasted so much better with the fresh herb taste of the celery flakes!