This shrimp pasta salad has all the components of spring, it has bright colors and it’s light and fresh. This salad can be a stand alone lunch, a light dinner or the perfect side dish to have for spring and summer cookouts.
Colorful spring vegetables are incorporated into this salad and finished off with a creamy lemon dressing that clings to every bite.
This pasta salad looks pretty made with rainbow colored pasta, there are so many shapes and sizes available today and the different colors add to the vibrancy of the dish. You definitely want to choose ones that are healthy, the ones that are actually colored with natural foods, things like carrot, beet root, tumeric and spinach which will also enhance the flavor as well.
I would encourage you to seek them out, I found this cute farfalle shape but again there are so many more!
You can poach the shrimp, roast the shrimp or grill it, either way will work, just have it done ahead of time.
Now that winter is behind us it’s time to tuck those comfort foods away and to brighten things up and this pasta salad is just the thing!
- ½. lb. cooked shrimp, roasted, grilled or poached, cooled down
- ½ lb. colored pasta, cooked, drained and rinsed cold. Pat dry so no wetness sticks to the pasta
- 1 lb of fresh asparagus, cut in half and blanched for 2 minutes in boiling water then plunged into ice water, then patted dry of water.
- ½ cup of peas, if fresh pre-cook, if frozen, defrost
- ½ of a red pepper and ½ yellow pepper, diced
- ¼ red onion, small dice
- 3 radishes, sliced thin
- ½ of english cucumber, sliced thin
- hand full or arugula or chopped romaine lettuce
- tablespoon each of chopped parsley and chopped basil
- LEMON CREAM DRESSING
- 1 part fresh lemon juice
- 3 parts olive oil
- 1 small dollop of Dijon
- 2 or 3 small chopped garlic cloves
- 2 Tablespoons of full fat mayo
- Add all the dressing components into a jar and whisk it up together. ( You'll have extra) set aside.
- Take all your components, the cooked pasta, shrimp, asparagus, peas, chopped peppers, onions, radishes, parsley, basil, arugula or romaine and place them into a nice big bowl.
- Toss gently together, evenly dispersed, then spoon in your lemon dressing, taste as you go adding salt and pepper, more herbs if you like.
- Be careful not to overload the dressing so as not to make it soggy.
- Place pasta salad into a nice platter and serve!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
