- If you're looking for an easy side dish
packed with flavor,
then you've got to try my macaroni salad recipe.
And if you like this video,
don't forget to hit that Like button and subscribe.
Hey, you're watching Preppy Kitchen, where I, John Kanell,
teach you how to make delicious homemade dishes
to share with your family and friends.
This macaroni salad will be ready before you know it,
so let's get started.
First off, we're going to grab a big pot,
fill it with water, bring to a boil,
and then salt liberally.
Then we add the pasta.
While our pasta's boiling,
we're going to get to chopping, make that dressing,
and by the time it's ready, we'll be all done, I tells ya.
All right, we want to have
1/2 a cup of basically everything.
This recipe's super easy to remember.
We're going to start with the bell pepper.
Just get the seeds
and all that pithy stuff out of the middle.
You better be careful when chopping bell pepper.
This skin is so slippery, and this knife is so sharp.
When you're dicing this,
don't worry about it being exactly the same size.
You just want it to be nice, bite-sized pieces.
Imagine a spoon grabbing a bite of the salad.
Gets a little bit of everything,
not a giant piece of celery or bell pepper.
(gasps) I was estimating that looked like 1/2 a cup,
and I was right, woo!
(whistles)
All right, into the bowl.
We're going to continue chopping.
This can get saved for an omelet later.
One of the things I like about this recipe
is that you can just add anything you want.
If you like asparagus,
blanch a little bit of asparagus
just at the very end with the pasta,
and you're going to have a delicious extra bit.
This recipe has two tablespoons of vinegar.
I'm adding about a tablespoon right now to my onions.
I'm going to let them sit here for a while,
because they have a lot of bite,
and if we add an acid to it,
it'll deflame the onions or take away some of the bite.
It's one of my favorite little tricks to do.
For this recipe, I want 1/2 a cup of pickles.
And save the juice.
Don't throw it out.
That's part of the dressing.
You can use any pickle you'd like.
So if you like things a little sweet,
go for the sweet pickles.
If you like them a little tart,
go for those really vinegary kind.
I got totally distracted, because when I was a child,
there was this commercial for a thing called sweet pickles.
I think it was like some kid's educational situation,
but it had a very catchy song
that gets stuck in your head for decades.
(chuckles)
All right, give these pickles a nice chop.
Two hard-boiled eggs in the recipe.
But I love hard-boiled eggs, so I'm adding three.
Just don't tell anybody.
Oh, you can let me know in the comment
if this looks like it was a fresh egg or an old egg.
You can always tell by peeling them.
What do you think this is?
It's a fresh egg.
Eggs are all peeled.
Wasn't that easy?
Now we're going to give them a chop.
Ooh, and these are like almost hard-boiled.
I love like a runny yolk.
These aren't runny, though.
You can add the eggs in now or later.
They're delicate, so it's nice to add them
towards the very end.
And the last ingredient I'm chopping is my parsley,
which Brian forgot to buy (chuckles).
Specifically asked for it.
And he thinks of parsley as a garnish,
so he's like, "You didn't need the parsley."
I was like (chuckles).
So chop your parsley.
Oh my gosh, that fresh garden smell.
It's one of my favorite things.
We're going to add 1/2 a cup.
I'm sorry, we're gonna add 1/4 of a cup right into the bowl.
Just gives it a nice pop of color.
And it's ready to go.
Now the dressing.
All right, we're going to set this aside.
Pull out a large bowl, add 1/2 a cup of mayonnaise.
I think mayo gets a bad rap.
It's so delicious.
But it can't be like the only thing you're eating.
It's a nice vehicle for other flavors.
It's not a thing in and of itself.
That's crossing a line.
1/4 cup of pickle juice.
Going to measure out 3/4 of a cup of sour cream.
You're going to add the remaining tablespoon of vinegar.
You can use a white or a cider vinegar.
It's totally up to you.
Pardon me, would you happen to have any Grey Poupon?
Let me know in the comments if you remember that commercial.
I don't think it's been around for a long time.
Two tablespoons of Dijon mustard,
two teaspoons of sugar.
That's an optional one,
but it kind of rounds the flavors out,
especially if you're using a tart acidic pickle,
which I'm not.
1/2 a teaspoon of salt.
1/2 a teaspoon of pepper.
Freshly ground is always best.
Give this a nice whisk.
Whisk, whisk, whisk.
That is a beautiful color and consistency.
So as promised, my pasta's ready.
Drain it.
Rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
And now we're going to add it
to the rest of our ingredients,
along with those delicious and now tamed red onions.
You'll notice they changed color a little bit
as they sat in the acid,
and they're just so much more manageable now.
They still have that great taste.
Pour that dressing all over.
Going to give this a quick toss just to get it started.
Ooh, I love that pop of green.
(gasps)
(speaking in foreign language)
Now let's add those eggs in.
Beautiful curry, golden color.
Final toss, nice and gentle with those eggs.
Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with more fresh herbs,
and you're ready to enjoy.
If you liked this video, check out my side dish playlist.
That is some crunchy, creamy,
packed with flavor, side dish amazingness.
I'll see you in the next video.