Circle B Kitchen Macaroni Salad
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There’s still plenty of grilling time left on the calendar people. Lots of tailgate parties, football parties, Labor Day BBQ’s, and actually some of the best outdoor weather is still ahead. We’re heading into my favorite time of the year and to celebrate, I’m sharing with you one of my all-time favorite side dishes for BBQ’s, picnics, grill parties and to be honest, just one of my all-time favorite things to eat.
I’ve always loved mac salad. Always. Enough so that even if it wasn’t all that good, I’d still eat it and be happy. That may be a bit overstated, but you get the idea. Mac salad and me are pretty tight.
But then a very scary thing happened when I decided to get serious about my mac salad and developed this recipe that Cousin Katie now refers to as Crack Salad. Yeah. It’s sort of scary in that “I can’t stop myself and my fork is out of control and I can’t even remember if this is my third or fourth helping.” That kind of scary. But maybe that’s just me.
Otherwise, this is a lovely, delightful and totally scrumptious macaroni salad without all of the heavy, tasteless mayo-laden drudgery of most store-bought ones. It’s quite happy sitting next to your burger or grilled chicken and loves being toted along to work for some lunchtime deliciousness. It’s actually quite agreeable to most any application on your plate, but don’t be fooled by its appealingly benign appearance...it's most definitely scary. Good. Here’s the recipe…
Circle B Kitchen Mac Salad
Click here for a printable recipe
If you love macaroni salad, then I would suggest you consider long and hard before making this. It’s totally addictive and there are times when my willpower just isn’t up to the task of moderating my intake. One of the secrets to this particular mac salad is chopping everything really fine. I chop the eggs in my food processor, but if you don’t have one, then just use a fork to get them mashed up as much as possible before adding them to the bowl. I buy olives already chopped in the can, but if you have larger ones, a few pulses in the food processor will do. There are chopped radishes in the blog post photo, and I would say they’re totally optional. If you like a little crunch, they’re a nice option or some chopped celery will do as well, but I don't usually add them.
2 cups elbow macaroni (approximately 1/2 lb)
1/3 cup chopped black olives
1 large green onion, chopped (about ¼ cup)
½ to 1 cup mayo
Splash of red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Morton’s Seasonings (or Circle B seasoning salt)
2-3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped pretty fine in the food processor
1 teaspoon salt
Chopped radishes or celery if you’d like a little crunch, but totally optional
Instructions:
Cook the macaroni, drain and rinse.
Mix the mayo, mustard, seasoned salt and vinegar together and combine with the macaroni. Then add the remaining ingredients and taste for salt and pepper. Be sure to add enough salt. I often end up adding a little more right before serving.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
