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Make Fireworks At Your July 4th Cookout

Cooking Demo: Amy demonstrates how to make 'Greek Pasta Salad with Shrimp.'

As the lazy days of summer usher themselves in, it's not a bad idea to have a recipe in your head that can easily translate to a great dish. With July 4 just days away, and all the eating that goes with it, this is one of those dishes. Greek pasta salad with shrimp nails it when it comes to big bold flavors that can feed a crowd or just your family. The combination of shrimp, tomatoes, scallions, salty olives and fresh dill with a lemony vinaigrette gives the humble summer pasta salad new meaning at a cookout. Even better, it offers some serious competition for the burgers and dogs.

It's a dish that actually tastes better when prepared ahead of time. And once the pasta is done cooking, there's virtually nothing left to prepare. Shrimp can be purchased fully cooked in the freezer section, or ask your fish guy to steam them for you. Many supermarkets offer that service for free. If you are on a whole grain kick, you can skip the pasta entirely. Whole grains such as quinoa, bulgur and wheat berry are excellent substitutes. Just cook as directed and use instead of pasta. Speaking of pasta, if you don't have orzo, which looks like a grain of rice, any pasta will do. After all, it is summer, so work with what you have. The bold flavors will let the salad do the talking and you do the relaxing. 

Greek Pasta Salad with Shrimp

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Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes 
Serves: 6-8

Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb orzo pasta cooked according to package 
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and chopped
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, cut in half
1 lb jumbo shrimp, cooked with tail off
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

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In a small bowl, combine lemon juice and vinegar. Add olive oil in a steady stream and whisk to emulsify. Set aside

In a large bowl suitable for serving,  pasta, tomatoes, scallions, olives and shrimp. Toss with vinaigrette. Sprinkle half of dill and toss again. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle remaining dill on top and serve. 

Amy Currie is a mother of three and teacher at the Kings Cooking Studio in Short Hills. She is the author of "Memoirs of a Home Cook," "Every Great Recipe Has a Story" and her latest cookbook, "Secrets of a Home Cook." You can e-mail her at summitpatchdish@gmail.com. She writes a weekly column for the Summit Patch, which appears every Thursday at summit.patch.com.

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