Amish Macaroni Salad

Amish Macaroni Salad is sweeter than your traditional macaroni salad and contains the signature grated carrot and sliced egg garnish. It's even better the next day, so if you can, let it sit overnight. This recipe comes from a Berk's County, Pennsylvania website.

Faith Note: This recipe makes a good point of reference for traditional Amish Macaroni Salad, but because we did not want a real sweet salad we cut the sugar back to 1/8 cup which seemed about right. Also, we did not quite use all of the dressing. The next time I made this I make 2/3 recipe of the dressing and it was not enough; I had to make the rest of it and add it. We may have made this the first time with the smanll shells, and the second time with small elbows. I think the carrot adds a lot to this recipe and would not leave it out.

This makes more salad than you would think. If you only want a few servings, cut recipe in half.

Salad
1/2 lb macaroni pasta (or small shells)
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup finely grated carrot
1/8 cup finely chopped onion (more if desired)
1/8 cup chopped green pepper (optional, see note at end)
3 hard-boiled eggs (reserve 1 to slice for garnish, and chop the remaining 2)
[fresh parsley]
paprika, for garnish

Dressing

1 cup Miracle Whip (we use Hellmann's mayonnaise) (2/3 cup)
1/8 cup vinegar (1 1/3 Tbsp.)
3/4 cup sugar* (cut this back to 2 Tbsp. - mix your dressing and taste it - you can always add more) (1 1/3 Tbsp.)
1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard (2/3 Tbsp.)

*The sugar is needed only to counter the vinegar and mustard. No need to makce it SWEET!

Cook macaroni as directed on package; Drain & cool.

In a bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients so they are well-combined and smooth.

In a large bowl, gently combine the macaroni, celery, carrots, onions, green pepper, if using, and chopped eggs. Fold the dressing gently into the macaroni salad mixture.

Place into your serving bowl and garnish with the reserved slice egg and paprika.

Let sit overnight for the best results.

NOTE: It was not in the original recipe, but you can add 1/4 cup chopped green pepper for some extra crunch.

Makes 6 - 8 servings