Pasta Salads are one of my favorite sides to eat in the Summer time. The word salad can be very vague in my opinion and I’ve seen some rather unhealthy ones. On Wednesday, look out for my very unhealthy salad and I guarantee you are going to like it. First, we should probably figure out what the term salad really is. According to dictionary.com the term salad refers to “a cold dish of various mixtures of raw or cooked vegetables, usually seasoned with oil, vinegar, or other dressing and sometimes accompanied by meat, fish, or other ingredients.”
Pasta salads definitely have a mix of proteins and vegetables in them with that list of other ingredients. You can make them your own by adding in whatever you like. For my pasta salad, I went with one of my favorite pastas which is orzo. Orzo, also risoni, is a form of short-cut pasta, shaped like a large grain of rice. For veggies you have peas and onions and the protein of choice is shrimp. The dressing is a simple mixture of mayonnaise (reduced fat) , lemon juice, and dill for some flavor.
Now, we had this pasta salad at the lake on the 4th of July, and the type of pasta they used was a ring pasta. No dill or lemon juice was used either and that really pumped up the flavor in this dish. The salad was good, but it was lacking flavor and I thought by adding that lemon juice and dill in, that made it even better! You can serve this warm or cold. It tastes better warm in my opinion. Oh and look, there’s a vegetable in this salad. Two to be exact. Did you think that this girl doesn’t ever eat any vegetables? Yes, I do. 🙂
Shrimp and Pea Orzo Salad
Ingredients
- 8 oz orzo pasta
- 1 /2 cup frozen peas
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- 2-5 oz. cans of shrimp, or diced shrimp
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 /2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon dried dill
- salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the frozen peas to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Scoop out the frozen peas with a strainer or spoon that has holes in it and set the peas aside in a bowl. Add in the 8 oz of pasta to the water and cool until al dente. Orzo does not take as long to cook as regular pasta does. Check it after 6 minutes to see if it is done. If you want room temperature pasta salad, don’t rinse. If you want cold pasta salad, rinse with cold water.
- In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the sauce. Add the mayo, lemon juice, and dill and stir with a whisk until well combined.
- In a large bowl, stir cooked pasta, shrimp, onions, and peas together. Add the sauce and stir until everything is evenly coated. Serve or refrigerate covered until ready to serve.
Notes
5 smart points per serving
Makes 8 servings
Nutrition
- Calories: 160
- Sugar: 1
- Fat: 5
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 24
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 8
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