One of my favorite tailgate dishes is a pasta/shrimp/peanut/sesame combo that is quick and easy to prepare, tasty and healthy.
Here’s what you need:
- 12 oz. bowtie pasta (I use whole grain pasta because I have diabetes)
- 4 oz. sesame oil
- 2 oz. olive oil
- 2 oz. sesame seeds
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder (to taste)
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped onion (optional)
- 4 oz. sun dried tomatoes in olive oil (comes in a jar)
- 5 oz. stuffed, green olives
- 3 oz. Feta (or Bulgarian sheep’s milk cheese, which is harder to find, but better), diced into small squares
- 1 tsp. paprika
Boil the pasta until it’s the tenderness you prefer and put in a bowl to cool. Pour the olive oil into a pan and prepare the shrimp by putting it into a plastic bag with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Shake it and when it’s ready, put it into the hot olive oil on the stove to brown the shrimp.
Meanwhile, place the onion, celery, olives and sesame oil into a large bowl. When the shrimp is ready, remove it from the heat and set it aside. Place the pasta in the large bowl and stir thoroughly.
Stir in the shrimp, sesame seeds, olives, sun dried tomatoes and sesame oil. Garnish with paprika and peanuts, and serve hot or cold.
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).
