Old-Fashioned Macaroni Salad with Sweet Pickles

Happy summer! Celebrate with a staple of cookouts and picnics: macaroni salad. The secret to the old-fashioned flavor of this salad is the addition of a little sweet pickle juice and sliced pimiento-stuffed olives, along with the more traditional ingredients like mayonnaise, onions and hard-cooked eggs.

 

Old-Fashioned Macaroni Salad with Sweet Pickles

 

3 cups (10 1/2 oz./330 g.) elbow macaroni

Salt and freshly ground pepper

 

For the dressing:

1/3 cup (3 fl. oz./80 ml.) mayonnaise

1/4 cup (2 oz./60 g.) sour cream

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1-2 tsp. sweet pickle juice

 

1/2 white onion, finely chopped

3 celery ribs, finely chopped, leaves reserved and finely chopped

3 sweet pickles, finely chopped

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz./75 g.) pimiento-stuffed green olives, chopped

1/2 bunch fresh chives, snipped

 

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the macaroni, and cook until tender, according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold running water and set aside to drain.

 

To make the dressing, in a serving bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, pickle juice, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir to mix well.

 

Add the onion, celery and pickles and stir to mix again. Add the macaroni and turn to coat. Add the hard-cooked eggs, green olives and celery leaves and turn once again. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, if needed. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with the snipped chives, and serve. Serves 6.

 

Find more creative and colorful salads in our cookbook Salad of the Day, by Georgeanne Brennan.