Yellow Spice Turmeric in Macaroni Salad

How yellow is your macaroni salad? If you haven’t used turmeric before, be warned, “This is one yellow, but tasty, salad!”

Turmeric can spice up any salad. It has a pleasing spicy taste, in the way of a mild mustard. It’s not even mildly hot in the kind of heat that feels like it’s burning your tongue, but it gives a very slight tongue tingle when you eat enough.

Turmeric macaroni salad using one teaspoon turmeric powder instead of mustard.
Turmeric macaroni salad using one teaspoon turmeric powder instead of mustard.

This Indian spice gives a bright yellow color that’s almost psychedelically bright. At first I thought it would be a turn off, but nobody seemed to mind the color as leftovers were gone the next day. This macaroni salad uses turmeric powder instead of mustard, so it might be called a mustard substitute.

Turmeric Macaroni Salad Recipe

Boil a large pot of water and cook half a box of macaroni for about 13 minutes, until firm. Drain, rinse with cool water and shake off excess water. Transfer to large serving bowl.

While the noodles cook, chop any selection of available vegetables. In this case we chopped 2 stalks celery, grated 1 large carrot and sliced 1 fresh garlic sprout. Try adding chopped broccoli, cauliflower, onions, crushed pineapple or boiled eggs.

In separate small bowl, or mug, mix: 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 tsp. turmeric, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 2 tsp. honey, 1 tsp. cider vinegar. Add to macaroni and vegetables and mix well. Cut sprigs of fresh dill or parsley over top for serving.