Before I ever moved away from home, I went through my mother’s recipe folder where she kept family recipes written down. I latched onto this recipe and have made it ever since. My great-grandmother was known within the family as ‘Mer’. Everyone called her that and still refers to her as ‘Mer’, who passed away in the 1960’s. Her husband was ‘Per’. I remember her making this salad and I loved it as a small kid. She would serve it to her lady friends at luncheons, and make it for us when we visited. The recipe would serve 6 to 10 people, depending on the serving size.
2 cups cooked macaroni - the small salad type
1 can drained tuna chunks
1/2 cup chopped sweet pickle
2 tomatoes, chopped small
salt and pepper
paprika
1 tablespoon minced onion and sliced radishes can be added
Use mayonnaise thinned with cream or vinegar as a dressing.
Variations: add chopped cucumber, or fresh minced parsely
When I made it recently I only had one tomato, and half of a cucumber so I chopped those very small. I used about ¼ cup sweet pickle relish with the juices mostly drained, instead of the sweet pickle. I didn’t have the radishes. Mer’s always had the tiny sweet pickle chunks and very thinly sliced and matchsticked radishes, which gave it a wonderful kick. I thinned my mayo with cream, and then added a splash of rice wine vinegar after I had mixed it up. I gave a quick taste for salt and pepper and chilled it for 30 minutes. We ate it in bowls. It made a great early lunch. The following day I made a big green chef's salad, and placed a scoop of the Tuna Macaroni Salad on one side of the salad. It was great. It’s best if chilled.
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