Make-Fast Mondays: Dill-icious Pasta Salad

Tonight’s Make-Fast Monday dinner is the end result in taking what I love about this recipe and ramping it up while scaling back the pasta. The end result is an entree-worthy pasta salad loaded with delicious shrimp, crunchy cucumber and a delightfully dilly dressing. It’s easy to prep all the components of this salad while boiling water and cooking your pasta. It’s also worth noting that I used Trader Joe’s Brown Rice  & Quinoa Fusilli Pasta, a new favorite, but a whole-wheat pasta would also yield similar results. 

Shrimp and Cucumber Fusilli with Dill Dressing 
¾ cup olive oil
5 tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ cup chopped dill
⅓ cup white wine vinegar
8 ounce fusilli, cooked al dente and rinsed with cold water
4 green onions, sliced
1 pound Persian cucumbers, halved and cut into thick slices (English cucumber would also work)
1 pound cooked medium shrimp, tails removed and deveined
1 cup fat-free crumbled feta

Blend olive oil, Dijon, dill and white wine vinegar in a blender until smooth and creamy. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl, and stir in dressing until everything’s evenly coated.

May 6 Salad

I based this whole salad around the dill that’s been chilling in my fridge for the past couple days. We had a royal potluck at work last week to celebrate Wills and Kate getting hitched. My contribution was a huge batch of tea sandwiches — dill rye, English cucumber, cream cheese and fresh dill. The only thing that would have made this potluck better would have been a visit from one or more of those adorable corgis from “The King’s Speech,” but I digress.

I had dill to spare after the potluck, and thought I’d use it to make the Mustard Dill Vinaigrette that goes along with an orzo salad recipe I absolutely love. I drizzled said dressing over a plate full of butter lettuce, grape tomatoes, English cucumber slices and grilled salmon. Yum.