Sexy Chicken Macaroni Salad

I love macaroni salad and this I think is always present in special occasions in the Philippines. I've tried many macaroni salads, and there are two popular ways to prepare this, sweet and salty. However, I like my macaroni salad to be somewhere in between salty and sweet, and with more texture. If you're wondering why I call it sexy, it's simply because I used vegeroni spirals instead of the usual macaroni. 

Here are the ingredients I used for my salad. You can always change the proportion of the ingredients to your taste.

500 grams San Remo vegeroni spirals

400 grams Del Monte Pineapple Tidbits

900 ml mayonnaise

200 grams chicken breast

100 grams minced pickles (optional)

200 grams seedless raisins

1 medium carrot, minced

1 onion, minced

salt and pepper

First, boil the chicken in water with a little salt until cooked. Let it cool and shred it. Cook the vegeroni spirals according to package instructions. Drain when done. I actually let my macaroni cool by adding cold water to it. This prevents the macaroni from being overcooked. 

By the way, some blanch the minced carrots, I don't.  Raw minced carrots add more texture to the salad. 

The next step is easy, you just need to mix everything. Be careful though. You don't want to just throw everything in the mixing bowl because that would make it difficult to mix and distribute the taste evenly. What I often do is to start with the mayo, add the other ingredients except the cooked vegeroni spirals. Add salt and pepper to your taste and toss the cooked spirals little by little. You might need to add more salt and pepper as you add more spirals. Best eaten when chilled. 

Sexy Chicken Macaroni Salad