Summer Salads: Macaroni Salad

This is a very basic salad with no hard and fast measurements, but the next in the summer salads series nonetheless. I'm sharing this because it's a good thing to make to cultivate your taste method of creating good food. Too many people are out there cooking and not tasting as they go. Adding a bunch of crap at the end isn't going to save something. Taste as you go so when you arrive at the end, the dish is to your liking.

Ingredients
1 box elbow macaroni
4 stalks celery, chopped small
1 bell pepper (I typically use orange, yellow, or red), chopped small
1 can crab or 1 cup fresh cooked and picked (optional)
1 can shrimp or 1 cup fresh shrimp, cooked and chopped (optional)
Yellow mustard
Spicy brown mustard
Hellman's Mayo
Sea salt, white pepper (black okay), onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt, garlic salt

Directions
Boil macaroni in salted water according to directions. Drain and store covered in fridge for at least two hours, but overnight is okay.

When you're ready to assemble the salad, put the macaroni in a large bowl with room to move and mix. Add your veggies, crab, and shrimp, then start by adding a cup of mayo and a tablespoon of each mustard. Then the spices - I'd start with about 1/2 tsp of each. Mix well, then taste it. What do you want to taste more of? I typically add more mayo - nothing worse than a dry salad, and let's be honest, macaroni salad is not the place to cut calories - and spices, but not all the spices. I do it by taste, and so should you.

It's a great easy salad to bring to a party or to make on Sunday for the week as a side.

What do you put in your macaroni salad?

***********************

Haikuesday

Condiments: discuss.
Mayo means Hellman's only.
Mustard, up for grabs. 

**********************

 See Asparagus & corn salad here, See Greek Orzo salad here