Fresh Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

3-4 C cooked elbow macaroni
(Depends on what kind of ratios you like.)*
½ C Celery chopped
1 half sweet yellow onion diced
1/3 C red or yellow
pepper chopped
2 boiled eggs, chopped
1 can artichoke quarters drained
1/2 C chopped cilantro
1 ½ t fresh mint chopped
1 large tomato diced (orange tomatoes would be pretty!)
1 large cucumber peeled and diced (seed the cuke for better texture)

Dressing:

5 T rice wine vinegar – you may need to add more at the end if your salad needs more tartness to even out the flavor.
1t yellow mustard or spicy mustard if you prefer
4 or 5 drops hot sauce if you like
1 C mayonnaise (may need more for texture)
3 to 4 T sugar
1/8 t coriander seed
Salt and pepper

Method:

Cook macaroni until al dente, meaning just a bit chewy. Not hard, but certainly not soft. Then drain and rinse under cold water. Put in bowl.
In another bowl add all other ingredients except for dressing ingredients.
Make dressing and whisk until all elements are incorporated. Add veggie and herb mixture to macaroni and stir, then add dressing and incorporate completely. Taste and season if needed.
Garnish the top of the salad with sprigs of mind and cilantro and a pretty sprinkling of paprika.

Any kind of pasta can work.

If you feel like mixing it up a bit omit the tomato, mint and cilantro, and add ¼C sweet pickle relish, ½C kalamata olives, a bit more yellow mustard, and use apple cider vinegar instead of rice wine vinegar. You can also make this without mayo and use a bit of your favorite mild olive oil and a colorful pasta like tortellini.