Summer Pasta Salad With Shrimp

More food porn for you today, if you're into ... food. And light summery meals.

This is another Martha Stewart special from the July/August 2010 issue of Everyday Food. I know you think I'm a one-trick pony and all I cook is Martha Stewart recipes, which is close to true, but I also often cook "Erin Surprise," which is what happens when I look in the fridge and concoct something that may or may not be to my husband's liking.

Also, today I am going to make a CHEESECAKE. For the first time, ever. It will be documented. Stay tuned next week.

Speak of the devil, my husband liked this meal. He gives it three out of five Padma Lakshmis.

I found this image at a site written completely in Greek called Sight, Smell, Taste & Texture.

Incidentally, have you ever googled Padma? She is a naughty girl.

Anyway, I decided I'm going to have my husband rate meals on a 5-star system, and this go-round we're using Padma Lakshmis instead of stars.

To help you gauge what a 3-Padma meal is like, he gives the Greek chicken skewers only 2 stars and says the one time I made a really disgusting recipe for macaroni and cheese that I found in the San Francisco Chronicle -- that was a 1-star meal. We couldn't even eat it.

Four and five star meals have way more butter and red meat in them, so keep in mind he is grading everything on a cowboy scale. Meat & potatoes.

Anyway, here goes. It's hot outside, no one wants to make a lasagna and sweat it out, so it's time to bust out summer recipes.

While you boil some pasta, thinly slice some yellow squash. That's a glass bowl, in case you're confused. I used rotini pasta. The recipe suggests fusilli, which I think is essentially the same as rotini, and if it's not, I don't really care and neither should you.

Pit and rough-chop some kalamata olives. These are just pitted.

Do not judge me for using frozen shrimp (thawing here in cold water). As far as I'm concerned, getting it frozen, pre-peeled, de-tailed and deveined is the only way to go.

 Spinach. Here it's been rinsed and is sitting in the salad spinner bowl, waiting to go for a ride.

 Grate some lemon zest and juice the lemon.

After your pasta is done cooking, throw all that stuff in a bowl, plus some olive oil. The hot pasta kind of cooks the spinach and the squash a little bit.

 Skrimps.

 Skrimps in a pan with some olive oil.

 Skrimps cookin'.

 Skrimps salt & peppered & done cookin'.

 Throw it on top!

Eat it!

I liked it. It was light and lemony and fresh. Would be great with a nice, cold Chardonnay.

Here is the recipe.

coarse salt & ground pepper
1/2 lb short pasta, such as fusilli
1 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced crosswise
1/3 cup roughly chopped pitted Kalamata or Noicoise olives
4 lightly packed cups baby spinach (3 1/4 oz)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lb large shrimp, peeled & deveined

1. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain pasta, transfer to a large bowl, and toss with squash, olives, spinach, lemon zest and juice, and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oil. Season with salt & pepper.

2. In a large skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high. Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until opaque throughout, about 3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper. Top pasta with shrimp.

Makes 4 servings at 415 calories per serving. 12 g fat, 1.9 g sat. fat, 27.2 g protein, 48.6 g carbs, 3.8 g fiber.

Enjoy, and I'll see you back here on Monday for some cheesecake!