This Charming Kitchen

I don't think I've ever shared a non-alcohol-related recipe before, but this one is great and it is, after all, summer.

And what says 'summer' like macaroni salad?  Nothing.  Macaroni Salad is what you need.

This is from Mr. Rass Spears, renaissance man extraordinaire and is an old-fashioned, little old church lady recipe.  There is nothing fancy about it.  It's just good.

What you'll need:

• 1 lb box of pasta, cooked according to package directions.  I use medium shells, but you can use whatever you like.  Do not over cook it.
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped
• 1 bunch of green onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups of real mayonnaise - I use Duke's - and don't be messing around with that 'lite' shit.  Now is not the time.
• 2/3 cup of sour cream - I do think 'lite' sour cream is acceptable if you're just dying to make this a little healthier.
• 1/2 cup of grated cheese.  I use parmigiano-reggiano, but you can use whatever you like.  The three cheese blend from Pasta & Provisions is also very nice.
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.

First, boil the water for your pasta:

Then, assemble what you will need.

Chop your veggies -

I like to mix the wet ingredients and the spices together into a sort of dressing.  You might also add a little white wine to this to thin it up a little bit and give a little more 'oomph' to the macaroni salad.  However, since this is a little old lady church recipe, wine was not included.  We cannot have that kind of thing in the parsonage....

Make sure that you are carefully supervised by a food expert.  Just in case.....

After the pasta is done, drain it and let it cool off for a while.  I like to add the dressing while the pasta is warm because I think it absorbs better.

And this is what you get.  A big bowl of crowd pleasing macaroni salad.

Yum!