Seafood pasta salad (recipe)

During the summer my cooking habits change a bit. I try to focus on making things that are quick, easy and don’t require during on my oven! We have been experiencing 90 plus degree weather on a daily basis here in Atlanta and the last thing I want to do is make my A/C work harder by generating heat. Summer meals in these parts are pretty light and I enjoy firing up the grill to cook fish, meat and veggies! However, some days I don’t even want to do that, the sweat is real when I am on that hot grill and sometimes I just can’t take it. So what’s a girl to do? I like to enjoy salads and my absolute favorite is seafood pasta salad.

Seafood pasta salad is so tasty, is easy to make and the only thing you have to cook is the pasta! I was able to purchase everything I needed for my salad at Walmart. I started with

Pasta Gourmet Ocean Adventure Pasta 100% all natural ingredients, GMO free, no added salt or sugar, Durum Wheat pasta made with dry tomato and spinach.

I love the shapes, they provide something interesting and fun for my son and the pasta tastes great too! My son is picky so anything I can do to make eating new foods adventurous, I try it!

All seafood pasta salads are not the same, for quick and easy I took several shortcuts. I used imitation crab and lobster meat which comes in a package. Of course if you are having a dinner party or special occasion meal, you can go full out and buy lump crab meat, cook lobster tails and chop into pieces. I also purchased a cocktail shrimp ring. Notice a theme? No cooking on my part, all I had to do was boil water for pasta and cook for 7 minutes! I added chopped celery, fresh dill, mayo, salt, pepper and onion powder to the mix. Chilled and served. Absolutely delicious and ready to be chilled in less than 15 minutes. I suggest placing the salad in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving and this salad lasts so you can actually make it a day ahead of time if you like!

I served up my seafood pasta salad with a green leafy baby spinach and spring greens salad topped with Ristorante Italiano Garlic Parmesan Dressing.  This Italian dressing is a blend of oils, vinegar, artisanal cheeses and spices. Seafood pasta and green leafy salads, perfect for the dog days of summer!

Seafood Pasta Salad

1 package Pasta Gourmet Ocean Adventure Pasta

3 stalks celery chopped

1 tbsp chopped baby dill weed

1 package imitation crab meat

1 package imitation lobster meat

1 cup cooked chopped shrimp (I used a shrimp cocktail ring for my shrimp)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 small onion chopped

Method

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain, rinse and place in large bowl.

Mix in all other ingredients.

You can add more or less mayo based on your personal preference.

Chill.

Enjoy!