Another strange thing is how many people tell you to drain and then rinse your pasta! Oh no!! You NEVER rinse pasta ~ whether it's for a cold salad or hot pasta dinner! The sauce or dressing won't stick to the pasta if you rinse it! (and I guess that solves the mystery of why so many people douse their macaroni salad with enough dressing to drown it ~ because the pasta hasn't absorbed any of the dressing). Take that one step further, and I suppose that also explains why so many potato salads are also drowning in dressing! Warm potatoes also absorb the dressing (so don't cool your potatoes before tossing them with dressing for your potato salads.)
But, I digress..... This macaroni salad is just plain and simply THE BEST. Not too much dressing (and not too much mayo, in proportion to the sour cream ~ another of my pet peeves). …. so ENJOY!
The BEST MACARONI SALAD
8 oz. macaroni pasta (I like medium, but whatever size you like best)
About 2 TB minced jalapeno pepper
About 1/2 cup EACH diced red (or orange) AND green bell pepper
About 1/2 cup diced sweet red or white onion
About 2-3 TB chopped fresh parsley
About 2-3 stalks celery, thinly sliced (or chopped, if using small macaroni)
DRESSING:
1/4 cup mayonnaise (mine has olive oil in it)
1/2 sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
1 tsp. Dijon or champagne mustard
2 tsp. rice or white wine or white balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. granulated sugar (or regular Splenda)
1 tsp. Kosher salt…………………….1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
***
Prepare the macaroni per package directions. Drain (but don’t rinse) and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, Whisk the dressing together in a small bowl and set aside. **
Put the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl. When the drained macaroni on top of the other salad ingredients and lightly toss. Then put the dressing ingredients on top and gently fold together until everything is well coated. (Hopefully you’re doing this while the macaroni is still warm, so it absorbs some of the dressing.)
Cool and refrigerate. Keep covered in the refrigerator.