Macaroni Salad

When I was growing up, my mom never made macaroni salad, not even one time! She did make potato salad but never macaroni salad. Whenever we were getting take out (only on special occasions) at a very non-vegan place that shall remain nameless, I always gravitated towards the macaroni salad. It wasn't even that good and sort of tasted artificial, but I got it anyway because that was the only time I could get it. Fast-forward to my teenage years. I still bought it when it was available wherever I was eating or shopping and also made it quite frequently a little later on. You've probably figured it out, but I love macaroni salad, so how could I pass up the Macaroni Salad (page 92) recipe?

It's your classic deli-style salad in a creamy mayo-based dressing. Now, any sort of pasta salad isn't complicated to make, but you want to get the ratio right of your dressing ingredients. I usually make mine to taste and put in a few other things but I wanted to try this recipe. The recipe has an excellent ratio of ingredients that produces a great base dressing for the salad with room to customise to your tastes. I ended up adding in more onion, celery and red pepper than called for and also added in more mayo (I couldn't help it, I'm a Vegenaise fiend) and sweet relish. On my second helping, I added in a little ketchup since that is usually what I put in mine (just a little).

If you like a classic mayo-based macaroni salad and are looking for a recipe, try this. It's quick to throw together (aside from chilling time), inexpensive and it's a great salad to bring to a vegan or non-vegan potluck.

— Ms. Veganorama