Colorful Shrimp Pasta Salad

shrimp salad

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.

farfalle pasta

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!

 

grilled shrimp

You can poach the shrimp, roast the shrimp or grill it, either way will work, just have it done ahead of time.

spring pasta salad

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!

Colorful Shrimp Pasta Salad
 
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Ingredients
  • 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
Instructions
  1. Add all the dressing components into a jar and whisk it up together. ( You'll have extra) set aside.
  2. 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.
  3. Toss gently together, evenly dispersed, then spoon in your lemon dressing, taste as you go adding salt and pepper, more herbs if you like.
  4. Be careful not to overload the dressing so as not to make it soggy.
  5. Place pasta salad into a nice platter and serve!

 

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I’ve Been On a Salad Kick Lately!

I have to thank my daughter for getting me to try a kale salad, I thought it was strange not to cook it, I thought it would be really bitter, I was wrong. Whole Foods makes a very popular kale salad here which is beautifully displayed in their deli, the demand is so great that sometimes they run out, I bought a small container one day on the advice of my daughter, and I was hooked!

Since then I’ve been making kale salads all different ways, here’s one of my favorites. This nutritious and healthy salad can be put together in a few minutes, a nice alternative to the usual salad greens. Ingredients listed above, no measuring, just put as much as you want.

I had two blood oranges left that needed to be used so I made this simple salad consisting of oranges, raw onion rings, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. The combination together creates a great balance of flavor.

A good use for leftover chicken is to recreate it into a salad. Diced chicken, red onion, avocado, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, torn fresh basil leaves and pine nuts tossed with some whole wheat bow tie pasta and fresh spinach drizzled with your favorite vinaigrette. Great for lunch or a light dinner.

Shrimp stuffed in an avocado has been around for years, what sets this apart is the 3 Citrus Aioli that’s drizzled all over it. Scoop out one side of an avocado, dice into medium chunks and place into a bowl, add your cooked shrimp that has also been cut into medium chunks ( leave a few whole). Toss in grape tomatoes that have been cut in half, granulated garlic, fresh parsley and red onion, stuff it back into the other avocado half.
For the 3 Citrus Aioli, combine the juice of a lemon, lime and orange, whisk it into a good store bought mayonnaise until you get the right consistency and then drizzle all over. The citrus brightens everything up and goes perfectly with the shrimp and creamy avocado.
Enjoy, and Buon Appetito!
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