A macaroni salad so good you’ll think it came from the deli

When was the last time you had a delicatessen-style macaroni salad? Surprisingly, for me, it had been decades since I last tasted one.

What defines a deli macaroni salad?

Macaroni, of course. If memory serves, the dressing was sweet and sour (sugar and vinegar), blended together with mayonnaise. The remaining ingredient list was short: sweet red and green bell peppers along with onion and celery; all finely diced.

Since I didn’t have a macaroni salad recipe in my recipe collection, I headed to the internet to see what I could find. Almost instantly, I discovered James Delmage’s website sipandfeast.com. Delmage calls his website “your go-to resource for Italian-American and New York-inspired food.”

About macaroni salads, Delmage writes: “Homemade versions are often a clumpy mess with little to no flavor.”

I decided to use Delmage‘s recipe as the basis for the macaroni salad I wanted to take to a weekend barbecue.

While I cooked the macaroni, I prepared the dressing (Delmage calls it a brine) for my salad. He used ⅓ cup of sugar. I easily substituted an organic, liquid stevia for that sugar, trimming nearly 150 calories.

Since we are still in Vidalia onion season, instead of grating a yellow onion, I finely diced some Vidalia.

Delmage uses “vegetable oil” in his dressing. I went with extra-virgin olive oil. Since this salad uses a pound of dry macaroni, I believed the olive oil would not change the flavor profile in a negative way.

I also used Kosher salt to make the brine (and in the macaroni cooking water), since it dissolves more easily than sea salt.

Delmage assembles and combines all the ingredients for his salad, except for the mayonnaise, and refrigerates it overnight. Based on his experience working for delicatessens, that overnight rest helps the salad develop the perfect flavor.

The next day, I added mayonnaise to the salad and, with more effort than I expected, stirred and folded everything together until well combined and the ingredients well coated.

Was this salad worth the effort? Definitely, it tasted just like every r-e-a-l-l-y good deli macaroni salad I had ever tasted, and the barbecue’s guests agreed.

Give it a try.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at 1leanwizard@gmail.com.

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Don’s Deli-Style Macaroni Salad

1 pound elbow macaroni (organic preferred)

For the brine:

⅓ cup white vinegar

3 tablespoons water

Natural sugar substitute (like stevia) equal to ⅓ cup sugar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

½ cup Vidalia onion, finely diced

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

½ teaspoon white pepper

1¼ cups mayonnaise (add more if necessary)

½ medium green pepper, finely diced

½ medium red bell pepper, finely diced

1 rib celery, washed, trimmed, and finely diced

Add 1 tablespoon Kosher salt to a large pot of water. Place the pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Add and stir in macaroni and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook according to package directions, stirring from time to time. Using a colander, drain macaroni and stop the cooking by running the pasta under cold water. Set aside to drain.

While the macaroni cooks, make the brine: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the brine ingredients and set aside.

When the macaroni cools, whisk the brine and then add the bell peppers and celery to the cooked macaroni. Mix well to coat. Refrigerate the salad for at least one hour, preferably overnight.

The next day, add and fold in the mayonnaise until well combined. Serves 12.

Nutrition values per serving: 330 calories (61% from fat), 22.4 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 27 g carbohydrates (25.6 net carbs), 1.5 g sugars, 1.7 g fiber, 3.5 g protein, 17 mg cholesterol, 332 mg sodium. SaltSense: Reducing Kosher salt to 1½ teaspoons reduces sodium per serving to 227 milligrams.

— Don Mauer