Mediterranean Summer Shrimp Salad

Pasta, greens and shrimp are actually tasty together.

An older addition of Cooking Pleasures magazine offered this recipe and I don't know why I didn't try it sooner. Probably because pasta and lettuce, to me, don't sound like they go well together. Salad consisting of a bunch of greens, yes. Salad consisting of a bunch of pasta, yes. Salad consisting of greens AND pasta, no. What's dumb is that I've probably had it before and adored it, but due to brain cell damage cannot recall it.

Since I've been trying to incorporate new foods into our diet, primarily side dishes, salad repertoire has naturally come into light. This one was a plus simply because we have a tendency to buy greens and let them get wilted and dried out, making fantastic worm, rather than human, food.

The only thing I didn't have to make this was capers. I've come across quite a few recipes that call for them and because they sound so "fancy" have avoided them (and the recipes). No longer! I bought capers!

Believe it or not, but this fancy jar of capers was about $3 at Stater Bros., found in the olive and other condiment aisle.

Oh, and I didn't have rotini, which the original recipe called for. I used what I thought would look pretty from my collection of pastas (purchased in a bulk pack from Costco). And because of Rod-steaks stomach intolerance to green peppers, I used red. Just click the link already.

Mediterranean Summer Shrimp Salad

2 oz. (2/3 cup) cellentani

8 oz. shelled, deveined uncooked medium shrimp

1/2 c grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 c chopped red bell pepper

3 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp capers

1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 c packed mixed salad greens

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting any salt or fat. Add shrimp during last 3 minutes of cooking; cook until shrimp turn pink.

Be sure to use pasta (brand and style) you've cooked before so you can achieve pasta al dente while cooking the shrimp to completion yet not over-doing it. As this was the first time I cooked this type of pasta, I wound up having to fish the shrimp out of the pasta water as the pasta was not to completion when the shrimp was.

Drain; place under cold running water to cool. Drain well.

If you use tubular pasta, toss frequently as water has a tendency to reside in the interior of the tubes.

Meanwhile, combine all remaining ingredients except greens in medium bowl. Add pasta and shrimp; toss gently to blend well.

 

If I was in a major hurry, I'd have eaten this as it looked so good! Screw the greens!

Serve over greens.


While Rodney didn't particularly care for this (he was still stuck in the "pasta and greens?" mentality), I LOVED it. Crisp lettuces, dense pasta, shrimp, basil...I was in heaven! So much so that I even remembered to bring leftovers to work for lunch.

I suspect the cost of this is between $10-15 or about $4-5 for each of three servings.

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