Finally the winter is over and the BBQ season is upon us.  Would any BBQ be complete without this classic salad?

It can be made with any pasta you wish, of course, but generally a tubular variety is preferred.  In this case, I used penne.  But good ol’ elbows are the mainstay.  Small or medium shells are nice too.  If you’d like more chew factor, give gemelli a try!  Rotini works too.  Heck, all of ’em work!

I like my mac/pasta salads loaded.  In addition to the obligatory celery and onion (I use red onion), I just love some black olives, roasted red bell peppers and jalapenos in mine.

Classic Pasta Salad

The dressing is special too.  The addition of one ingredient was a tip given to me by my neighbor Sonya B.  Her macaroni salad is the thing legends are made of and at one party she gave, where I was naturally diving into her mac salad, I happened to ask her, “What do you do???”  And she told me.  The secret is simple:  dijon mustard and just a whisper so it makes a dressing special, but you can’t make out it’s taste.

So here it is, and if you want to call it your meal, I won’t say no, but it does go great with ribs, burgers, hot dogs…heck…ANYTHING!  

Enjoy!

Classic Pasta Salad

• 4 cups penne cooked (or any pasta of your choice)
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1/4 cups roasted red bell peppers, julienne
• 2 tbs chopped fresh chives
• 2 tbs jalapeno pepper, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Dressing:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sugar

Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix together all the dressing ingredients.

Stir just enough of the dressing (you don’t have to use all of it) to coat the pasta.

Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour

Makes 8 servings.