Mix It Up Macaroni Salad

Did you know that you can toss just about any kind of leftover veggie into macaroni salad? You CAN! Also pasta, cheese, and lots of little dibs and dabs of things.

Mini bow tie pasta, frozen mixed veggies, chopped tomato, jicama, red onion, pepperjack, celery seed and mayo. 

The basic recipe is:

Sauce (Mayo, Miracle Whip, bottled salad dressing, even a spurt of honey-mustard)
Spice (Mrs Dash, onion powder, oregano, salt & pepper, celery seed, ranch dressing mix, just any savory thing,)
Cooked pasta (bite-sized, any shape)
Chopped veggies (the sky's the limit here - thawed frozen 'mixed veggies', leftover corn kernels, fresh peas, chopped peppers, onions, black olives, tomatoes, avocado, broccoli... just clean out your veggie crisper!)
Chopped or shredded cheese (any kind)


To make it, just get a big bowl and add about 1/4 cup of your chosen sauce (or a couple of heaping tablespoons). Add in a bit less than a teaspoon of your spice and mix. Toss in your cooked pasta, veggies, and cheese. Mix, mix, mix. Chill and serve as a side, and it's great for potlucks and barbeques (and is super cheap to make!) Tomatoes, corn, beans, black olives, avocado and peppers and cheddar (with a little cilantro, chili powder or cumin) go Mexican. Chopped pepperoni, onion, green peppers, parmesan and oregano go Italian. Toss in some crunchy rice noodles, a little soy sauce, mixed veggies and chopped cabbage for Asian! Just have fun with it. :)

Basic Broccoli Salad

Broccoli salad with peanuts and cranberries

I LOVE broccoli. It's my favorite vegetable and perhaps my favorite food (closely followed by cheese) and, since I do love the luscious green flower so much, I make this salad fairly often. Like every time broccoli goes on sale. I'll buy two bunches, one for cooking and one for broccoli salad. Yummy, yummy stuff.

You'll need:

About a third to half a package of bacon (but you can use more, or less. Whatever's handy or needs used up)
Mayonnaise or salad dressing (low fat or regular) - I'll explain the amount below
2 T sugar
2 T vinegar* (I use cider vinegar usually since that's what I always have around)
1/2 of a red onion, chopped
1 bunch of broccoli (or 2 small ones if they're rubber-banded together) chopped, including tender part of stems
Nuts* (peanuts, cashews, etc) a handful or so
Dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, whatever you like) a handful or so

Cut your bacon into strips, about 1/4 in wide, ish, and fry them up until nice and brown and 'chewy-crisp'. You can also cook the slices and crumble if you want, but pre-slicing works better for me. Drain on paper towels.

Get a tablespoon from your silverware drawer (not a measuring tablespoon) and put two biggish, heaping spoonfuls of mayo/salad dressing into a med/large bowl. Add sugar and vinegar. Whisk to combine, should be smooth and a bit runny. Add onion, broccoli, nuts, fruit, and bacon. Mix, lifting up from the bottom and flipping (sort of like folding a batter) until sauce is well distributed. Serve immediately or chill an hour or two for additional tanginess!

*You can give this an 'asian flair' with rice wine vinegar, chow-mein noodles, and a dash or two of soy sauce. :) Make it more 'country' by adding sliced hard boiled egg. There are lots of options!