Shrimp Avocado and Pasta Salad

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avocado, healthy food, kids friendly, lemon olive oil dressing, Lunchbox ideas, Pasta salad, quick lunch, rotini pasta, salads, shrimp

My family’s favorite pasta salad that makes perfect picnic’s main dish and great lunchbox idea.

With weather changing to warmer temperatures, announcing beginning of spring, although the weather outside is still too cold, but we are getting ready to welcome the summer. Yesterday was the official day of spring, my favorite season.
Spring to me is not only a season, but it also means a lot;

The beginning of life…
Simplicity…
Warmth…
The beauty…
The bright flowers popping through…
Leaves starting to stretch out…
Songs of the new hatch sings…
Buzz of the bees…
Rat a tat tat of the rain…
Picnics and more family fun…

Every time I make this salad it remind me of spring. Cool, easy to prepare, with all beautiful colors; greens, yellow, red, purple, and white. Sure will feast your eyes, and sing a happy symphony in your mouth.

One of my family’s favorite salad, it makes a great lunchbox meal, plus it’s easy to make that the kids would love to share the work preparing it for the next day school lunch. It is also a savory side dish to bring for family gathering and potlucks, a satisfying one dish meal for busy weeknight or weekends, and wonderful main dish salad to prepare for picnics.

All ingredients complement each other. The juicy sweet and slightly tart tomato, the crunchy cool cucumber, the purple cabbage pop in, all combine to meet with the protein portion shrimp that sucks in all the tangy,lemony juices, while the onion gives a little push, and the cheese lends this very fresh dish the gravity of age, and the olive oil emulsified in for rich, slippery body. The flavors swirl as you slurp it up, bouncing from bright and clean to deep and savory, and once all the pasta gone, you’ll have the nice fresh vegetable salad.

Also, because I make it so often, I also make a lot of variations on it. Sometimes I use different vegetables, or substitute the chicken of shrimp or make it veggies only dish. But it will always be our favorite pasta salad.

Shrimp Avocado and Pasta Salad

3 cups uncooked Garden Rotini
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 cup high-quality olive oil
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (sometimes I use Mexican 4 cheese)
about 10 large shrimp (I prefer raw wild caught, but the frozen and cooked will work too)
2-3 Bay leaves
1 large avocado cut in cubes
1/2 cup diced green or orange bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 tablespoon fresh italian leave parsley, chopped
1 cup grab or cherry tomato, cut in halves
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
1/2 cup purple cabbage, chopped

In a pot, bring 3 quart of water to rabid boil. Add salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil (this helps the pasta not to stick together). Cook the pasta uncovered on medium heat until tender, about 10-12 min. Rinse the pasta in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain well and put into a large bowl. Add lemon juice, olive oil, dried basil leaves, oregano, and parmesan cheese, mix well, let the pasta soak all the juices.

Meanwhile in another pot bring water to boil, you may add some bay leaves, add the raw shrimp boil for 5 min, the color will change to pink. Rinse with water to stop cooking then take off the shells and clean. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, and garlic powder, mix together.

In the pasta bowl, add the shrimp and the remaining ingredients and gently mix until well combined. Test for seasoning.

Serve chilled.

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Avocado Hummus Dip

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avocado, avocado dip, dip, hummus

Avocados, the Green buttery nutty fruit, were once a luxury food reserved for the tables of royalty. They are rich in monounsaturated fat, and have more than twice as much potassium as a banana. Served in many ways, but not hot,  because it easily become bitter when cooked in high heat. It can be served as a desert, soup or juice, along with many choices as an appetizers.
My kids like to eat avocados as is, with a sprinkle of some honey on the top, a very delicious and nutritious snacks.
In this recipes, the middle eastern way in preparing avocados as avocado hummus dip version, adding the tahini sauce will elevate the flavor and enhance the color protection, served with peta bread or chips.

Avocado Hummus Dip

1 fresh avocado
2 tablespoon tahini sauce
3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil plus some to sprinkle on the top
sumac for the garnish

Process all the ingredients in the food processor untill creamy and soft, transfer to serving dish, garnish with sumac and add some olive oil on the top, serve the dip with pita bread or pita chips.

Happy game times.

Daring Cook Challenge: Potato Salad

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avocado, avocado potato salad, cauiliflower, daring kitchen challenge, eggplant, lentil, lentil potato salad, pomegranate molasses, potato salad, Salad, sweet potato, sweet potato salad, sweet red bell pepper, yogurt dressingroasted vegetable salad

Jami Sorrento was our June Daring Cooks hostess and she chose to challenge us to celebrate the humble spud by making a delicious and healthy potato salad. The Daring Cooks Potato Salad Challenge was sponsored by the nice people at the United States Potato Board, who awarded prizes to the top 3 most creative and healthy potato salads. A medium-size (5.3 ounce) potato has 110 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no sodium and includes nearly half your daily value of vitamin C and has more potassium than a banana!

Here is some potato salads recipes I usually make:

Sweet and White Potato Salad with Pomegranate Dressing

This salad is gorgeous, it combine between the sweet and the sour, when using the sweet potato and the white, then the pomegranate with its sweet and sour flavor along with the arugula, very very delicious.

1 sweet potato
2 medium white potato
arugula
sweet red bell pepper
green onion
pecan
for the dressing
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper

Boil the potato with the skins on until tender and cooked, peel the skin and cut the potato into small cubes and let it cool, cut the pepper into 1\2 inch dices, slice the green onion thinly, add the arugula and pecan.
To make the dressing, add all the ingredient in a bowl and whisk until incorporated, add to the salad and mix all together.

Avocado Potato Salad

It’s really great as a refreshing light lunch as will as a very good choice to serve at gathering along with pita chips.

2 medium White potato boiled, peeled, and medium diced
1 avocado cut into medium dices
2 small roma tomato medium diced
1 small cucumber medium diced
3 tablespoon parsley chopped
some mint leaves chopped
2 tablespoon onion small diced
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix the potato, avocado, tomato, cucumber, parsley and the onion all together in deep dish. Add the lemon juice, oil, salt, and pepper, mix and server in small dish.

For the pita chips slice the pita bread into triangles drezzel with olive oil and sprinke a dash of salt, spread the triangle on a baking sheet and put it in the oven at 300 f for 10 -15 min.

Oven Roasted Potato veggies salad with yogurt dressing

this salad is a twist on a famous mediterranean fried veggie layered salad, so instead of frying the veggies why not to grill it in the oven as I did or on the grill. the sauce from yogurt and taini gives it that creamy sour fresh tangy taste.

red potato peeled and cut into wedges
paprika for seasoning
eggplant cut into large cubes
cauliflower cut into large floret
frozen sweet corn
chopped parsley
toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper
olive oil for roasting the veggie
for the dressing
1\2 cup greek yogurt
3 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Heat the oven at 350 f, on a sheet pan season the potato with salt, pepper, paprika, add olive oil to coat completely, mix all together, layer the potato into the pan and put it in the oven for 20 – 25 min. until cooked and soft inside (you can check it with the fork).
layer the eggplant and cauliflower after coating with salt and pepper and drizzle some olive oil to coat completely and put it in the oven at 350 f for 15 -20 min.
in a pan put some olive oil add the corn and sauté for 5 min.
To make the dressing mix the yogurt the tahini and the lemon juice.
On the serving dish layer the potato the eggplant then the cauliflower the corn add another layer of each, top it with the yogurt sauce, pine nuts and chopped parsley.

Lentil Potato Salad

potato boiled peeled and diced to medium cubes
lentil cooked to tender
parley chopped
sweet red bell pepper
2 tablespoon onion diced fine
cumin, dried coriander,salt and pepper
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
some romaine lettuce for serving

mix all ingredient together spoon it into the letuce cups and serve.