Hawaiian Plate Lunch-style Macaroni Salad

One of my favorite parts of a Hawaiian plate lunch is the side of macaroni salad. No matter what the plate lunch is, I always have to have the mac salad. I've had many failed attempts at making a plate lunch mac salad, because I learned that its not merely about slapping on some mayonnaise on some elbow macaroni pasta. There was always something lacking.

After our recent trip to Hawaii, I've been on a Hawaiian food kick lately. Always looking for ways to recreate our meals from the trip. But the mac salad is always the missing part of the meal. After doing a quick search, I've adapted this mac salad from a recipe I found on HawaiiMagazine.com and it came out just as I remembered a mac salad should taste like. I learned that the secret to a great plate lunch mac salad is using Hellman's Mayonnaise. Lots of it. And adding grated onion and eggs into the salad. Mmmmm.....'ono!

1/2 lb. elbow macaroni

1 celery stem, chopped finely

1/4 cup finely chopped carrots

1 Tbsp. finely grated onion

2 hard boiled eggs

1 1/4 cup Hellman's Mayonnaise, more to make it creamy

salt to taste

1) Cook macaroni until it is almost overcooked. Drain and cool completely.

2) Combine prepared macaroni pasta, celery, carrots, and onions in a large bowl. Using a fine mesh sieve, scrape the hard boiled eggs through the sieve and into the bowl of pasta. Stir in mayonnaise. Season with salt to taste. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.