Grilled Shrimp Pasta Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette
I’ve always been one to love a good challenge. Heck, coming up with dinner every night can be a challenge. You know those nights when it’s you against the refrigerator and pantry. Opening the doors, staring inside and saying what in the world am I going to put together to feed all these people that live with me? Those are the times creativity comes into play. I’m putting that creativity to good use with today’s recipe challenge.
“To celebrate the fifth anniversary of Dreamfield’s Pastapalooza summer promotion, we are calling upon bloggers to compete in five “Market Basket” challenges throughout the summer. Bloggers will be challenged to use the ingredients in the Market Baskets (plus up to 2 more of their choice) to create original pasta salad, side dish or summer entrée recipes.
Fans and friends will vote for their favorite recipe from each Market Basket category, with the winning blogger receiving a $1,000 donation to their local food bank/pantry; a $200 donation will go to the food bank of choice of the remaining bloggers. One randomly drawn fan/participant who voted will win a family pack of Dreamfields + a $1,000 donation to their local food bank/pantry.”
My #Pastapalooza CHALLENGE basket required ingredients included: Flavored or wine vinegar, Almonds, Fennel, Protein (any choice – fish, beef, poultry, beans, tofu, etc.) and Dried fruit. Dreamfields pasta, salt, pepper, oil and water are “free” ingredients (whew).
What did we come up with? A pasta salad tossed with a champagne vinaigrette that’s been garnished with almonds, dried apricots, shaved fennel and topped with grilled shrimp. I gotta tell you the flavors in this dish work phenomenally well together. The dish is great warm or cold making it perfect for summer entertaining or picnicking.
I hope you’ll consider VOTING for our PASTA SALAD . The voting page will be live from 12:01 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 2 through 11:59 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 8.
I mean you’ll be supporting a great cause and it’s my birthday week. No pressure.
xo!
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Dreamfields. I was compensated for my time. Opinions are my own. Always have been. Always will be.
What You Will Need:
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
- kosher salt/pepper
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil + additional for drizzle
- 1 small fennel bulb - finely shaved (reserve fronds for garnish)
- 1/4 cup shaved almonds
- 1/4 cup finely sliced dried apricots
- 1 box Dreamfields penne
- 1/2 pound large shrimp - peeled and deveined
What To Do:
- Into a small bowl add: mustard, garlic, vinegar. Whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Set aside.
- Place a large pot of water onto boil. When boiling add pasta and cook until al-dente. Drain pasta. Set aside.
- WHILE pasta is cooking, place shrimp on skewers. Season with salt and pepper. Lightly drizzle shrimp with olive oil. Heat a grill pan over medium - heat. Cook shrimp until pink on both sides.
- Into serving bowl add pasta. Pour vinaigrette over pasta. Toss to combine. Add fennel, almonds and apricots. Toss to combine. Top with shrimp skewers.
- Garnish with fennel fronds if desired.
The Food Hunter says
I’m voting!
looks delicious
Martha @ A Family Feast says
This pasta salad looks fantastic Paula! I’m especially loving the champagne vinaigrette!
Lauren Kelly Nutrition says
This looks so yummy! I love Dreamfield’s pasta too.
Heather / girlichef says
That is one delicious-sounding basket! I love what you’ve come up with here – so elegant and absolutely mouthwatering.
Stephanie says
I love anything with shrimp – this sounds wonderful!
Cookin Canuck says
It looks as though you came up with a pretty awesome pasta salad with your basket ingredients! I love dishes with a little sweet and a little acid.
Brenda@Sugar-Free Mom says
I’ve never used champagne vinegar before, now you’ve inspired me to give a go!
Kim Beaulieu says
This looks SO good. I want to dive head first into it. Love how pretty it is. You garnish like a boss.
Kirsten/ComfortablyDomestic says
All those fab flavors in one pasta dish. LOVE how Dreamfields is donating to so many food pantries! Going to vote now…happy birthday!
Susan 30A Eats says
How fun!!! I love shrimp and this dish has my vote!!
Susan 30A Eats says
Love the concept, shrimp, and you have my vote! 🙂
Paige says
I definitely understand the challenge of coming up with something to eat. This pasta looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing!