CATIE'S ISLAND TUNA SALAD

Catie's Island Tuna Salad image

Provided by Catie B

Time 30m

Number Of Ingredients 11

7 oz (2 cups dry) macaroni pasta
1/2 c mayonnaise or salad dressing (i.e. Miracle Whip)
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp onion salt (I omit and use 1 1/2 tablespoons minced onion)
7 oz can of tuna, drained (I rinse and drain tuna again to lessen strong flavor)
17 oz can of sweet peas, drained, or 1 cup thawed frozen sweet peas
3/4 c mild cheddar cheese, diced small
2 Tbsp minced green pepper
1 Tbsp diced pimento
note: if you omit onion salt and use fresh onion as stated above, you may salt and pepper to taste.

Steps:

1. Cook macaroni as directed on package. Drain, and rinse with cold water to chill and rinse starch. Drain. Place macaroni in a large bowl.
2. Combine salad dressing, sour cream, celery seed, black pepper to taste, and about 1 tsp salt (add salt to taste ONLY IF you are omitting the onion salt). Gently blend the dressing into the macaroni in bowl making sure all macaroni is well coated with dressing.
3. Gently blend remaining ingredients into the pasta. Chill. Note: I use two 5 oz. cans tuna for fuller salad. You can substitute tuna with ham, luncheon meat, or chicken. Also, you can substitute lite sour cream, lite MIracle Whip, low fat cheese, as desired. NOTE FOR GLUTEN FREE: This recipe is excellent using the rice/quinoa blend of macaroni, such as Andean Dream.
4. Serve on plates. I often garnish plates with bright orange carrots, green celery, and cucumber sticks for a colorful plate. Can line plate with a large lettuce leaf upon which to lay the serving of salad as well. Makes a lovely luncheon salad.