Beverage of choice: Red Wine
Soundtrack: Ben Harper's Greatest Hits
Oh, June. What a wonderful month. Everyone starts the month with a little R&R on Memorial Day, it's peak wedding season, and it ushers in summertime. It's a time of BBQ's, sunscreen, and cheap beer. Freshly cut grass, open windows, and hot dogs.
What goes better with all these than a fresh macaroni salad?
Nothing, I say!
What I love about this recipe are the colors! Nothing beats fresh veggies in the summer.
Start by cooking three cups of macaroni. The type doesn't really matter. I've always been partial to bow-ties, but if cavatappi gets you excited, be free.
Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil so they don't become one gargantuan mass of starch, cover, and refrigerate.
Chop up some veggies. These are usually my three amigos for this recipe: Grape tomatoes, a cucumber, and half a red onion. If you have some bell peppers or mushrooms hanging out in your fridge, now would be the time to chop them up!
Note: I chop my onions big so that those who don't like them can easily pick around them.
Also note: I usually remove the innards of my grape tomatoes. I don't like runny salads, so after chopping them in half, I give them a little squeeze. That way the seeds and extra juice don't mess with the texture of my finished product.
Enjoying food is as much about texture as it is taste.
Amen.
Next use throw the sour cream (I use low fat), mayo (I do not use low fat), some dill, a sprinkle or two of black pepper and some garlic salt together in a bowl and mix.
This is where I usually venture into the fridge to see how my noodles are surviving in their frigid new environment. You may want to pull one out of the bowl and test your sour cream mixture. It makes the noodles feel less abandoned. Reminds them of their purpose.
You're doing the noodles a favor by checking your flavors here, trust me.
This may be controversial, but I will say it proudly:
I adore blue cheese. I put it on anything that sits still long enough. Steaks, salads, burgers, bread, cheese plates, apples, a fork.
Jake on the other-hand thinks that it smells like feet.
If you happen to be like my husband (or are with child), feel free to omit this. The recipe works perfectly fine without it. You may want to put in a little bit of extra salt, because you are missing out on the depth of this enticing, tangy, mouth-watering, salty, life-changing flavor. But hey, on your own head be it.
Add blue cheese to the sour cream mixture if you dare.
After about 30 minutes in the fridge your noodles should be cool enough to assemble the salad. Dump in your veggies.
Then add your sour cream mixture.
Toss the salad until everything is covered in the sour cream mixture. Check your flavors again here. If you need more salt, I won't be offended. If you need more pepper, I would probably agree with you. Season it to your taste.
Dish it up and enjoy.
I really love this after it's been sitting in the fridge for a few hours. The onions give it all wonderful flavor and the creaminess mixed with the fresh veggies is perfect for a lazy summer afternoon.
Here's the recipe:
Macaroni Salad
3 cups uncooked macaroni
1 cucumber
1 pint of grape tomatoes
1/2 red onion
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon dill (more to taste)
2 teaspoons garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz blue cheese (optional)
Boil your macaroni. When cooked, drain into a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, cover, and place in refrigerator.
Chop cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onion.
Mix together sour cream, mayonnaise, dill, garlic salt, and blue cheese.
Toss together cooled macaroni, vegetables, and sour cream mixture. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Serve cold.
Enjoy!
