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.