Summertime Macaroni Salad

I can't say where I've had this salad before, but I made it tonight and realized it is one that I LOVE!! I made the dressing while my noodles were cooking, and I thought it tasted too sweet. But as I added the other ingredients, like the onions and bell pepper, the flavors all came together and mellowed out the sweetness. Also, for a mayonnaise based dressing, it was surprisingly light. This recipe will fill a large salad bowl...



INGREDIENTS:

* 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni or shell noodles
* 1 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
* 2/3 cup white sugar
* 2 1/2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
* 1 tsp. celery salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 onion, chopped
* 4 stalks celery, chopped
* 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
* 1 cup frozen peas
* 1 16 oz. brick of cheese, diced into small cubes

DIRECTIONS

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook. While the noodles are cooking, mix together all the remaining ingredients. You'll notice that the dressing becomes quite runny. This next step is optional, but I highly recommend it.

Once your noodles are tender and ready to be drained, first drain the dressing from the veggies and cheese. I just poured mine out of the bowl and through my strainer into another bowl. Then I drained my noodles (don't rinse as the starchy water is good to help the sauce stick) and put the hot noodles into the bowl with the dressing. By adding hot noodles to the dressing, it allows the noodles to soak up more of the dressing as they cool. Leave them out for about a half hour, stirring occasionally, and you'll notice the sauce get soaked up almost entirely into the noodles. This helps them to take on more of the flavor of your sauce, instead of just tasting like a noodle. Now mix the veggies and cheese (which have been chilling in the fridge) in with your noodles, cover, and chill for a few hours before serving.

If you choose to not drain the dressing from your veggies to pour over the hot noodles, then just allow your noodles to cool before mixing them in to your dressing/veggies/cheese bowl. You don't want your cheese to melt...

Goes great with anything!!