Vinegary Macaroni Salad

Photo of my vinegary macaroni salad
Photo by PattyCooks.

Diet
[x] Flexitarian + Omnivore
[x] Vegan
[x] Vegetarian
[x] Pescatarian 
[x] Gluten free: use GF pasta
[x] Weight Maint: portion issue
[O] Keto Diet
[O] Mediterranean 
[O] Lectin Avoidance: Grains, dairy, soy (if using soy mayo)
[O] Oxalate Avoidance: Grains, soy, dairy
[x] Purine Avoidance

Macaroni Salad

A step beyond bland, mayo pasta salad to a bright, flavorful macaroni salad that also carries a little heat.

Pasta

  • 12 oz dry elbow macaroni
  • 4 Quarts Water (Per box instructions)
  • 2 T kosher salt (Water should taste like the sea)
  • 2 T Avocado Oil (used to keep pasta from sticking)

Veggies

  • 1. Yellow- orange bell pepper (chopped small)
  • 2 Shallot (diced)
  • 3 stalks Celery (sliced, with leaves)
  • 3 Scallions (sliced diagonal)
  • 1 Carrot (sliced diagonal)
  • 1 T kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves (Chopped well)
  • 2 T Seasoned rice vinegar

Sauce

  • 4 T mayonnaise
  • 4 T Sour cream
  • 4.5 T Seasoned rice vinegar (Use Japanese version of this vinegar)
  • 1/2 Meyer Lemon (Meyer lemons will add a sweeter acid)
  • 2 t Sriracha sauce (Put in as much as you prefer, to taste)
  • 2 T Dijon mustard (Use quality Dijon)
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 t Salt (To taste)

Pasta

  1. Cook the past in salted water, drain into a colander in the sink, and place the pasta in the large bowl to cool while other ingredients are prepped.

  2. Mix in 1-2T olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking together. Mix and set aside.

Veggies

  1. Chop an orange or yellow bell pepper into small cubes, no seeds and put in a veggie bowl.

  2. Slice scallions and carrots on the diagonal and put into the veggie bowl.



  3. Dice the shallot and finely chop the fresh parsley and add to the bowl. Set aside ~2t parsley to add to the sauce.

  4. Add 2T seasoned rice vinegar into the veggies and mix. While waiting to finish the sauce let this veggie mix marinate in the vinegar. Mix a bit so everything gets marinated.

Sauce

  1. Add seasoned Japanese rice wine into a sauce bowl, add salt, pepper, mayo, sour cream, lemon juice and mustard, and mix well. I also add two quick squirts of Sriracha sauce, ~1t. Add more hot sauce if you want, it is up to your preference.

  2. Add a bit of the parsley to the sauce and then taste for additional seasoning.



This is a highly flavorful sauce on the acidic side. I love it, my spouse not so much.

I tested this with gluten free elbow pasta and while it felt a little “mealy” to me, the flavor of the sauce would make me eat it.

The gluten pasta texture felt better to me and had a better overall taste.