Saturday, June 28, 2014

From the Kitchen - Outside the Nest

Shrimp Vegie Pasta Salad
With the 4th of July coming real soon, it brings to mind picnics. As in the Buettner Family Reunion.
Our contribution: a big kettle of home baked beans, a extra large bowl of fruit salad, and some kind of dessert. Oh, and hot dogs. I always hoped that we would take brats or burgers, but no, we always took hot dogs. I think it was an economical thing.
Salads have come a long way since the last reunion that I attended. As I assembled this delectable dish, I wondered if any of the relatives would enjoy it as much as I am.
First I start with the pasta. I like the flavored kind, which according to the package, provides part of a vegetable serving. Excellent.
There are so many shapes and sizes on the market, it was hard to decide.


While the pasta is cooking, I move on to the dressing. I start with fat-free sour cream, fat-free mayo, and to add some flavor and zing, horseradish sauce.


A spoon of dried onion, which will hydrate in the sauce,

my special Chickadee Cottage seasoning,

dill. Yum.
Cooking tip: You can find my recipe for Chickadee Cottage Seasoning here:Chickadee Cottage Seasoning
Make up a batch. Add it to sour cream for dips or to top those baked potatoes. Add to melted butter to top fish. Sprinkle on cooked vegies. Fabulous.

Then I assemble the vegetables: celery, carrot, cucumber.
Cooking tip: use a melon baller or tip of a teaspoon to remove the seeds from the cucumber.

And then the star of the show, shrimp. I use precooked, frozen shrimp. Just pull off the tail. Today I'm using medium, and I'm chopping them into pieces so that I get a taste in every bite of salad. They can be put in whole, or small size precooked shrimp can be used. It's the cook's choice.
Drain and rinse the pasta and return it to the kettle for a few minutes. Why? The heat of the kettle will held dry the moisture on the pasta. 
Wow, 3 cooking tips in one blog. I'm being real generous today.

Place the pasta, shrimp and vegies in a bowl,

add the dressing, and give it a stir.

Serve with your favorite vegie on the side,


or all on its own. I like to eat mine on the good china.
Or take it to a picnic and share, if you're feeling so generous.
Any way you eat it,
is it ever good.
Happy Saturday

Shrimp Vegie Pasta Salad 
1-1/2 C uncooked pasta
1/4 C fat-free sour cream
1/4 C fat-free mayo
2 Tbsp horseradish sauce
3/4 Tsp Chickadee Cottage Seasoning
1 Tsp dried dill weed
1 Tsp minced, dried onion
20 medium precooked shrimp
1 small cucumber
1 celery rib
2 small carrots

Prepare pasta according to package directions, drain. In small bowl, combine sour cream, mayo, horseradish sauce, seasoning, dill weed and dried onion. Remove tails from precooked shrimp. Chop each shrimp into 3 pieces, or leave whole, according to your preference. Remove seeds from cucumber, chop into small pieces. Slice celery into thin slices. Using a vegetable peeler, peel carrots into strips. Combine pasta, shrimp, vegies and dressing, stir gently until mixed. Chill at least 1 hour before serving. 4 servings.


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