Mid-Century Style: Mom's Macaroni Salad

This was my first-ever entry into a recipe contest.  I made a gluten-free macaroni and cheese dish for Easter, based on a recipe on the side of a box of my favorite gluten-free pasta.  As a courtesy, I tweeted it to the company.  I received a response urging me to enter it into their recipe contest.  Well, I said, it's your recipe and I don't think it would be appropriate to enter it, but it got me thinking about entering something else.  I finally decided on my mom's pasta salad.

I called it "Summer Pasta Salad," but since we lived in Los Angeles, we actually ate it year-round.  In fact, it was a tradition on Christmas Eve, along with a ham and the most delicious Port Wine Cranberry Salad.  (I promise to blog about that closer to the holidays.)  And, of course, we took it to every picnic I can remember.

I learned to make this as a teenager.  One problem, though: There was no written recipe!  I remember there was a large bag of pasta shells, a small can of chopped olives and an equal amount of relish, about half a dozen hard-boiled eggs, enough celery seed to cover the pasta when it's hot, and gobs and gobs of Miracle Whip.  Not quite precise enough for a recipe contest.

So I set about making it from memory, but measuring every ingredient as it went in.  The second problem I recognized was the fact that this was at least half, if not a quarter, of the size dish I usually made.  And then finally, the gluten-free pasta didn't quite react the same way regular pasta shells did (in addition to being harder to find; we went to three stores before we found it).

Before I could enter the contest, I had to take a photo of the dish appealing enough for the judges to want to make it.  One problem was I'd overcooked my eggs a bit and there was a tell-tale blue lining on the yoke, so I had to disguise.

(Many thanks to my Facebook friends who helped me select the photo.  The one below is what I submitted.  I need to work on my food photography!)

If you plan to make it and don't have gluten sensitivities, by all means use regular pasta. The GF just did not absorb the Miracle Whip like the regular pasta.  It was still good, though.

So, here is the final submission:

Summer Pasta Salad
8 oz package Ancient Harvest Quinoa Supergrain pasta shells
1 1/2 tsp celery seeds
1-2 tbsp chopped olives
1-2 tbsp pickle relish
1 1/3 cup Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise (divided)
3 sliced hard-boiled eggs (divided)

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Do not overcook.  Drain and put in mixing bowl.  Sprinkle immediately with celery seed; this will make the flavor of the celery seeds pop.  Add olives and relish to taste.  Mix in 1 cup of Miracle Whip or mayonnaise.  Stir in 2 of the sliced eggs.  Refrigerate overnight.

The pasta will absorb some of the mayonnaise overnight; in the morning, add 1/3 cup additional, or to taste.  Put in serving bowl.  Top with the remaining sliced egg and serve.

(Live outside the U.S.?  Recipe conversion suggestions on this post.)