Classic Macaroni Salad

Two of my favorite people came to town to visit…one of my greatest friends, Katherine, and my boyfriend (even though he doesn’t know it) Justin Timberlake came in for his concert.  With Katherine being a former Chicagoan, it was an easy weekend, touring some of our favorite hangout places, finding some new cute (and reasonably priced boutiques), and probably indulging a little too much in wine, but hey…that’s what you do with friends.  

For those that live in Chicago, I just realized there is a super cute boutique across the street from where I live (I know,  I know, I have lived here for 3 years, I probably should have gone in before now). It is called Handle With Care and it is super cute.  There are two sides to the boutique…one more reasonable and then one more expensive. 

On Monday evening (still working off our massive hangovers from our Sunday Fun-day) we headed down to Soldier Field for the JT/Jay Z concert…it was AMAZING…one of the best concerts I have seen.  Those two can blow you away with their talent and it was so cool seeing the entire stadium on their feet and dancing the ENTIRE concert.  The only sucky part was that it took two hours to get home after the concert (walking about 1.5 miles before getting on public transportation).  I was a zombie on Tuesday morning, but it was well worth it!

Okay, so now for the food.  A few months back I was in Louisville, Ohio with the Schumacher clan (Ann’s soon to be family) and Joyce (Matt’s Dad’s wife) put out a lunch spread that included a classic macaroni salad.  Well, this salad inspired me to find a great recipe to share.  I found one on food network to try, but I decided to tweak it.  The originally recipe included a little bit of cider vinegar, but when I made sauce, I really didn’t like it, so I remade it without the vinegar adding in a touch more mustard, and slightly less sugar, and it tastes fantastic now.  (I went ahead and made adjustments to the ingredients listed below)  I also really wanted to add some chopped hard-boiled egg into the recipe and I think it really balances the crunchy onion and celery.  Make sure you don’t over cook the pasta (I did that and had to re-do it…whoops!).  This is perfect for turkey sandwiches for lunch or even cooking out during the summer.  Enjoy!

 Ingredients

2 cups dry elbow macaroni, cooked, rinsed, and drained (don’t over cook!)

1 cup diced celery

¾-1 cup minced red onion, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes, drained

3-4 hard boiled eggs

1/2 cup prepared mayonnaise

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoons sugar

3 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a large bowl combine the macaroni, celery, and onion. I purchased hard boiled eggs vs. cooking them myself which definitely saves LOTS of time. Slice in half and take out the yoke, then do a rough chop and add into the pasta.  In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, sour cream, pepper and salt. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. Store covered in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.

Recipe Source: FoodNetwork.com (with my own tweaks)

Picture Source: Lindsay Klindt