Cajun Pasta Salad

Spice up a boring side dish with this Cajun pasta salad!

📝 Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta (elbows, shells or rotini or other small pasta)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 scallions
• 1 red pepper
• 4 ribs celery
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoon mustard (Creole, Dijon or spicy brown)
• 2 cloves garlic (grated)
• 2 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning *see note
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon dill pickle juice
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• up to 2 teaspoon salt (optional *see note)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. Cook the pasta as directed by the package instructions.
2. 2While the pasta cooks clean and dice the celery and red pepper. Separate the scallion whites from the greens and dice both. Set the green parts aside to garnish the salad.
3. 3After the pasta is done drain it in a colander. Run cold water through it to cool it off quickly. Put the drained and cooled pasta in a large salad bowl. Toss it with the olive oil.
4. 4Add the diced celery, red pepper and white part of the scallions to the salad bowl. Stir to mix.
5. 5In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, mustard, grated garlic, Cajun seasoning, lemon juice, horseradish, hot sauce, dill pickle juice, paprika and pepper. Stir to whisk it all together.
6. 6Taste a small amount of the dressing and determine if it needs salt or not. This will depend on how much salt your Cajun seasoning includes, if any. Add salt if necessary and stir the dressing again.
7. 7Pour the dressing over the pasta and stir to coat all the pasta. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
8. 8Serve garnished with a sprinkle of paprika and the reserved green scallion tops.
9. 9This salad keeps well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. It will thicken a bit over time. If desired you can stir in a few tablespoons of water before serving.