If you’re looking for a great, fresh, summer salad look no further than this Summer Fantasy Salad recipe! It comes together so easily with very little prep work and even less clean up! Below is Grandma’s hand-written recipe that you can see calls for some items that come in different amounts now, but don’t stress – current amounts are just fine. Most macaroni comes in 16 ounces now so I make this recipe with 8 ounces OR you could just double the rest of the ingredients. One note though, Grandma’s recipe calls for 1 1/3 Cup of mayo, but when I made this recipe the first time with my mom on hand we both decided she probably meant just 1/3 Cup. So we started with that and it was just fine!
I learned years ago that the best way to make a salad is to mix your dressing in the big salad bowl and then kind of coat the sides of the bowl with the mixture. Then dump in all your ingredients and toss to combine. This makes sure no dressing is lost and really evenly distributes it all around. Another change I might suggest is using fresh peas if you can. I can usually find them in a bag in our store and you can easily quickly cook them and allow them to cook before you add. I think they might be a bit brighter and fresher flavor than the canned ones.
This salad is great for lunch or dinner. Get some good, heirloom tomatoes, scoop out the insides and fill with this salad. You’ll be glad you did! If you try this salad let me know what you think or take a picture and share it with us on Instagram at: @bdhbakes
