Gah. I’m tired. It’s been a long week. Our dear friends from New Zealand have left us in Mexico and moved to Australia. But I’ll save all that chatter for another post. They’ve introduced me to a few New Zealand treats and one has become one of our favorites and needs to be blogged. When I am not so tired. And have less laundry to do.
You see, they moved in with us for the last few days they were in Mexico. Oh, and there are 8 of them. We have a small 3 bedroom house. And they have a lot of friends. So needless to say, this week has been busy. Noisy. Fun. Hectic.
They were supposed to head to New York for a week on Wednesday on their way home. As of Tuesday, all flights into New York were cancelled because of a big incoming storm. Next flights out? Saturday. As if that wasn’t bad enough, momma got sick and had to be hospitalized. She was violently ill and dehydrated. Ahhh, a fun last few days for them.
Yesterday I figured with all of these people it would be a good time to make some blog-worthy food. After all, I did have an extra 8 mouths that could eat up what I was cooking. I wanted food that could be put away and eaten whenever people came in, as they were spending their last day hanging out and getting things done and I doubted that we were going to all just sit down together and eat.
So I made this salad. Perfect for sitting in the fridge, and ready for whoever wants to eat it.
I’m not a pasta salad fan. But I am of this one. It’s fast. It’s easy. And those Asian flavors always win over my heart. If you want something that stands out as different the next time you’re asked to bring a pasta salad somewhere, this is a recipe for you.
And now, I need a nap.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 cup peanut oil
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1 TAB sugar
- 1 TAB sesame oil
- 1 TAB grated ginger (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 12 ounces cooked, peeled shrimp
- 2 red peppers, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 head broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
- 500 grams bow-tie pasta
- 6 green onions, chopped
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk peanut oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, and ginger if using in a bowl to blend. Transfer half of dressing to a large bowl. Mix in shrimp and peppers, let marinate 15 minutes.
In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta. In last 2 minutes of cooking time, add broccoli. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.
Add broccoli, pasta, and green onions to shrimp mixture. Toss with enough additional dressing to coat. Serve at room temperature or cover and refrigerate.
Adapted from: Epicurious
ORANGELOLLS 