Recipe: Shrimp Salad*

Happy Memorial Day!  Finally, the first official holiday of summer that we’ve looked forward to all the long cold winter!   I just found out that I’m having 13 guests for dinner on Monday, so I’ve decided to grill hamburgers and make my mom’s delicious Shrimp Salad that everyone loves.  In my family we have quite a few favorite dishes without written recipes, and this is one of those.  My grandmas were great cooks and so is my mom, so family specialties are plentiful—however, they are a little hard to share, since we girls were taught how to make them by our mom—not just handed a recipe on a card.  The shrimp salad, however, is relatively simple; so for those of you willing to take a chance and do some tasting, I’ve described the steps the best I can and I challenge you to give it a try!  If you like pasta type salads and shrimp, I think you’ll enjoy this family favorite.  

Mom’s Shrimp Salad
 

-12 to 16 oz bag of Small Shell Pasta (or small salad macaroni)

-Miracle Whip, Kraft or Best Foods Mayonnaise, or a combination of the two (it will take about a half jar I think)

-Kraft French dressing (not Catalina, just regular French)

-1 large bunch Green Onions, sliced

-1 to 2 cups diced Celery (use tender inner stalks if possible)

-1 can Black Olives, halved

-Half a 16 oz. Bag of Western Family Frozen Petite Peas, cooked

-1/2 to 1 pound of small to medium sized cooked Shrimp (buy these either already cooked, or cook and peel your own)*

Boil the pasta in salted water until just tender—don’t overcook (taste it to see when it’s done).  Immediately drain and rinse well in cold water.  Let continue to drain well in colander while getting dressing ready.   Cook Frozen Peas in a small amount of salted water just until they come to a simmer and drain.  Run cold water over them in colander to cool and set aside.

In large bowl, mix enough French dressing into the Mayo to turn it light peach colored (probably no more than 1/4 of the bottle into the mayo).  Add some salt and black pepper.  Mix into pasta until well coated.  If you don’t have enough, just mix up some more, or don’t use all the pasta.  Or if you have too much dressing, don’t use it all.  It will “drink up” some of the dressing when refrigerated overnight, so you can be quite generous, but don’t overdo it like they do with the commercially prepared salads.  The salad should be a pale peach color.

Now stir in the green onions, celery, olives, peas, and shrimp.  Taste it, add more S and P and/or dressings if needed.  Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least for a few hours, before serving.

*Note:  To prepare frozen shrimp, remove from freezer and run cold water over it in a colander in the sink.  Remove tails if present, by squeezing gently between thumb and finger until they pop off.   Lay out paper towels and spread shrimp over, then another paper towel on top.  Press gently to remove all water so that the shrimp are nice and dry and won’t get water in the salad.  It’s best not to remove shrimp from freezer until you are ready to prepare for the salad, and once the shrimp has been added to the salad, do not keep longer than three days at most.

*Originally distributed May 2013