Summer Pasta Salad

I am a huge fan of pasta salads no matter what the season, but especially in the spring and summer. They are a great addition to cook-outs, lunches or just for a snack. There is a plethora (Jeffe, do even know what a plethora eees? [3 Amigo's Reference for you non-movie watchers]) of things you can do with a pasta salad. Really your options are endless!

Pasta salad is a descendant of the macaroni dish served either hot or cold, and in America, dishes with the title "pasta salad" started around 1960, and then grew in popularity in the 1980's. Originally it was considered more of an upscale yet affordable dish but always a great way to use up leftovers. It wasn't long before it hit the mainstream, and now you can buy full on pasta salad box kits in your local grocery store. While some the kits can be tasty, nothing can compete with throwing down your own pasta salad from scratch. Here is one I did recently that it fairly easy and most excellent in the taste category. Yet as always, feel free to change it up with your own interpretations!

Ingredients

2 Bags of medium frozen shrimp (around 1 1/2 lbs)
1 box of small pasta shells
1 Red Pepper
2 cucumbers
2 tomatoes
1 can of black olives (pits removed)
1/3 of a red onion
2 Tbls. Fresh Dillweed
1 cup of mayonaise
1 lemon
Old Bay Seasoning
Salt & Pepper

Preparation

Boil your shrimp as directed on the packages. You can also choose to sautee them if you prefer. Peel and devein. Cook your pasta in a pot of water with a tablespoon of salt. You should cook the pasta to al dente as it will finish up to the desired tenderness as it cools down. Drain the pasta, but don't rinse it in cold water as you will wash off all the starchy goodness!
While your shrimp and pasta cook, peel the cucumbers and seed them and then rough chop them into bite sized pieces and add to a bowl. Cut and seed your tomatoes, cut them into bite sized pieces as well, adding them to the bowl. I only used half the red pepper since I had quite a large one, but you can add as much as you prefer. You will of course remove the seeds from the pepper and rough chop it as well. Dice your red onion and add to the mixture. Rough chop olives and dill and add to the bowl. With a small grater, zest your lemon and add it to the bowl, then cut the lemon and squeeze half of the juice into your mixture as well. You can also use some white wine vinegar in place of the lemon if you prefer.
Now that all the fresh veggies and herbs are in the bowl, you can now add your cooked shrimp and pasta. I let mine cool down to room temperature before adding. You can now add your mayonaise and stir it in until you have a light coating through out. I didn't measure an exact cup of mayonaise here, I just added mixing spoons of it until I got it to the desired amount. Add the Old Bay Seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. I only added a few dashes of the Old Bay, and went light on the salt and pepper so that once it was served, people could add more salt and pepper if they preferred.
This makes quite a huge bowl of pasta that will serve at least 12 people or more depending on the serving sizes. Enjoy!

Beer Pairing: Witbier or a Summer Blonde Ale
Wine Pairing: Sauvignon Blanc

Bowtie Shrimp and Spinach

I recently read a poem that referred to shrimp (I think it was by Ogden Nash) as the "wingless hummingbirds of the sea". Quite a beautiful visual this portrays!

Shrimp has quite a long history in cuisine, and even Marco Polo mentioned its abundance in Chinese markets way back in 1280. It is still quite the popular food dish with Americans alone consuming over 850 million pounds per year! And while only a few species of shrimp have a market value, there are over 300 species of these tiny creatures.

Shrimp have quite amount of nutritional value in addition to being pretty damn tasty, and can be prepared in all sorts of ways. Anything from your basic shrimp cocktail to a spicy creole dish, shrimp are definitely versatile.

Wanting to throw together a quick dish for two this past week, I decided to combine three of my favorite things: Pasta, Seafood and Greens. Below is a simple light recipe that any seafood lover can enjoy.

Patton's Bowtie Shrimp & Spinach

Ingredients

1 12 oz. box of bowtie pasta
1 package of baby spinach leaves
1 lb. shrimp (deveined and peeled)
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Juice of one lemon
3 medium tomatoes
2 Tablespoons of minced fresh basil
Salt and Black Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preparation

Put water in a large pot (enough to cover the pasta) and add a couple tablespoons of Olive oil and a pinch of salt. Once boiling, add the box of bowtie pasta and cook until al dente. Then drain water, reserving one ladle full of the pasta water.

While the pasta cooks, devein and peel the shrimp then lightly salt and pepper them. Cut tomatoes into bite sized pieces. Mince the garlic. In another pot, add enough olive oil to just coat the bottom. Add the garlic and the shrimp and cook over medium-high heat until the shrimp are pink in color. Add the basil, pepper flakes and half the lemon juice and cook 2 minutes more. Drain the pasta (still reserving one ladle of the cooking liquid) and then add the pasta, tomatoes and the bag of spinach to the shrimp mixture. Cover with a lid and cook just until the spinach wilts. Once the spinach is wilted add the remaining lemon juice, the ladle of the pasta cooking liquid and any additional salt and pepper to your taste preferences. Toss entire mixture together and serve with lemon wedges as a garnish.

This makes a great weeknight dinner and makes four servings, so if there are only two of you, there will be plenty to take to lunch the next day!