Macaroni Salad With Bacon, Peas, and Creamy Dijon Dressing

~SarahBeth~'s Note:

From Cooking Light. Another pre-wedding winner! :)

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 8

Yield: 8.0 cups of ...

• ½ cup reduced-fat cream cheese
• ¼ cup chopped shallot
• ¼ cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons nonfat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• ¾ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 ounces uncooked large elbow macaroni
• 2⁄3; cup fresh green peas
• 2⁄3; cup finely diced red bell pepper
• 2⁄3; cup finely diced red onion
• ½ cup thinly sliced green onion
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• ½ teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 3 slices bacon , fat removed, cooked and crumbled

Directions:

1. To prepare dressing, combine first 9 ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth. Cover and chill.
2. To prepare salad, cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Add peas during the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain; rinse with cold water. Drain.
4. Combine pea/ pasta mixture, bell pepper, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Toss pasta mixture with half of dressing. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Toss salad with remaining dressing, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon; serve immediately.

Reviews

[JackieOhNo!]

This was delicious and relatively easy, given all the ingredients. The dressing is really creamy and tasty and blends together beautifully. Even though I am not a bacon fan, I enjoyed this very much and made a container to take to work for lunch for the week. I think this would be equally tasty with cubed ham, hard-boiled egg, turkey, etc. Thanks for posting this keeper. Made for Please Review My Recipe Tag Game.

[Diana #2]

Fantastic. :) This is so smooth and creamy with wonderful flavour. I did add extra sweet peppers (yellow and orange), as I had some in the fridge, and used medium shell pasta. Ooops!...forgot the bacon. SarahBeth, I think I've just found my new favourite. Without a doubt...this will be made over and over again. ;) Honoured to make this as a "Thank You" for voting for Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia in the 2010 Kraft Hockeyville Competition.