pioneer woman mexican macaroni salad reviews

You can always add in more heat if there’s not enough, but it’s harder to take out the heat once it’s in there. So think about that as you’re preparing the dressing.

Our second batch of pasta salad had a little too much heat, because the pepper I chopped up for that batch was really large. So, if you are a heat weenie, you might want to scrape out a few of the chipotle pepper’s seeds when you are chopping it up. The more seeds in your chipotle pepper, the more heat will be in your dish. Tip Four: You Can Always Add More Chipotle If You Need To, But You Can’t Take it Out Once It’s In There They’re easy to chop up, too, when they’re mostly frozen, so you don’t really need to thaw them, either. If you buy a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (they’re usually found in the Mexican food section of grocery stores), you can spread out a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet, lay the peppers you WON’T be using in this recipe on the parchment paper so that they don’t touch, and freeze the pan for an hour or two, and then pop the frozen peppers in a Ziplock in the freezer, and you will always have that wonderful smoky flavor available to you to pop in a soup or whatever recipe needs a little smoky heat. Tip Three: What to Do With Those Leftover Chipotle Peppers So pay attention to how much pasta you’re using. The salad was much dryer, and that wasn’t deemed a good thing, by any of us. of pasta: that’s 1/3 again as much pasta). My second batch, I went ahead and cooked the whole box of elbow macaroni (a box usually has 1 pound, or 16 oz. My first batch had more dressing on it per noodle, because I measured 12 ounces of macaroni. Tip Two: Be Generous with the Dressing.Ĭreamy is better. Trivia: did you know that Gouda, which is a Dutch cheese, is actually pronounced “Howda” – with the “H” being kind of a guttural “H”, in the back of the throat? True! I learned that in the Netherlands! Don’t expect many people in the US to know that, however, especially not the guy working at the Kroger Deli. But, surprisingly to me, the Trader Joe’s cheese had a better flavor AND was more convenient. I expected to like the chunk of Boar’s Head cheese that I diced myself, better. I tried it both ways: from a chunk (this was Boar’s Head Smoked Gouda, purchased from the deli at Kroger), and from the package of pre-sliced Smoked Gouda, purchased from Trader Joe’s). Tips to Make Spicy Pasta Salad Even Easier and More Delicious: Tip One: Smokiness is What Makes This Pasta Salad Different From All Other Pasta Saladsīuy some pre-sliced Smoked Gouda from Trader Joe’s, if you have a TJ’s near you.

But let me give you a tip, or two, (or four) from my experience, after making this recipe (to rave reviews!) a couple of times. DO NOT CHEAT ON THESE INGREDIENTS by substituting other things. The secret to this recipe, in my opinion, the thing that makes it so stinking good, is the smoky flavor that comes from the chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, and the smoky creaminess that comes from the Smoked Gouda.

This perked my ears up, and I called my husband who was in town, and asked him to pick up some Smoked Gouda at the store: the rest of the ingredients, I already had. So around Memorial Day, I was reading her blog, and saw that she was planning to serve this Spicy Pasta Salad with her Memorial Day picnic, along with the Grilled Corn Guacamole, because she considered them to be some of the best of the best of her picnic recipes. I have gained a newfound admiration for The Pioneer Woman’s recipes, ever since I tried her Grilled Corn Guacamole. I have another fantastic side dish, Spicy Pasta Salad with Smoked Gouda, Tomatoes, and Basil that I’ve discovered this summer, that I think you are REALLY going to love. Welcome back to Grill Week in the Boonies. Spicy Pasta Salad with Smoked Gouda, Tomatoes and Basil is the perfect side dish for anything you’re grilling!

Pioneer woman mexican macaroni salad reviews