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Our post on a peas and pasta salad has been the most popular post on Life’s A Tomato for a long, long time. We make it often. Well, I was reading through Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue: Barbecue Your Way to Greatness With 575 Lip-Smackin’ Recipes from the Baron of Barbecue when I came across this recipe for Creole pasta salad. I knew it would be a hit. It has everything in it that we love, from crunchy celery, to salty olives, to a great buttermilk dressing. I made a few minor changes to the recipe and made up a big batch. Oh, how it was sooo good. It was even better the next day after the olives got happier in the dressing, giving the entire salad a nice lightly salty olive flavor.
Don’t Fear The Leftovers
If the salad gets a little dry the next day, stir in a little extra buttermilk or mayonnaise. And then give it a good stir.
Paul Kirk’s book is amazing. I can’t recommend it enough. It has recipes for everything from sauces, to meats, to wonderful salads like this one.
I almost always use Blue Plate mayonnaise in the dishes I make. I think it is the best around. If you can’t find it locally you can pick it up online for a fair price.
Also try my Mardis Gras pasta salad and my other other version of Creole pasta salad.
Creole Macaroni Salad Version 2.0
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 pound elbow macaroni cooked, drained, rinsed
- 2 cups tomatoes seeded, diced . You can omit these if you want
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese cubed
- ½ cup celery diced
- ½ cup sweet onion diced
- ½ cup green bell pepper diced
- ¼ cup pimento-stuffed green olives sliced
For the dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning optional, more or less, to taste
Instructions
- Combine all of the salad ingredients in a very large bowl.
- Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.
- Pour dressing over the salad and gently stir to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.
