Shrimp and Macaroni Salad from Deep South Dish blog. A macaroni salad made with shrimp, celery and green onion, and dressed with a blend of seasoned mayonnaise and sour cream. Sliced grape tomatoes are tossed in just before serving.
Classic Shrimp and Macaroni Salad
What a great, relaxing, wonderful weekend this has been! I hope all of y'all had a great one too - and maybe even an extra day off of work tomorrow?
The fireworks display for the 4th was just simply beautiful. I tell you what ... there is nothing like having a front row seat right on the Gulf of Mexico to watch those colorful explosions of light.
For awhile there, I wondered if it was gonna be a complete wash-out due to the fact that it was literally pouring rain most of the afternoon. A couple hours before they were due to fire them off, all the bad weather headed west, the skies cleared and there was a gorgeous sunset. It was an absolutely beautiful night.
I thought that Biloxi put on an excellent show - bigger and even longer than any of us expected - especially with the economy and all of the budget cuts going on across the country. I read of some towns that had to totally forgo their fireworks displays altogether and that is sad.
So Dad, who I think was as excited as the rest of us about going, had not only brought the standard chips and fried chicken with all the fixin's, he also prepared this huge pot of large, plump, and nicely spiced hot boiled shrimp for us to munch on. Mom said he was out using the boiler in the pouring rain, and, true to form, Mom was doling out all of the leftover food at the dock when we got back in. The Cajun and I were the fortunate recipients of the shrimp, yay!
Have I mentioned how much I love my in-laws?? I have been having a craving for some shrimp and macaroni salad here lately, so I knew right away exactly where at least some of those shrimp were gonna go! Now, this is a simple, unpretentious macaroni salad that relies on the shrimp to be the central figure, though I've included some suggested stir-ins that I have used before - depending on my mood at the time. Sometimes though, simple is just perfect.
Down here along the Gulf Coast, we generally use shrimp that has been cooked from raw and is highly seasoned, like leftover from a shrimp boil, which by the way, here's my my boil mix I promised to post. If you are using frozen, pre-cooked shrimp, you'll want to taste the salad at the end and make any adjustments needed to boost the seasonings for the salad.
I like to add a little pickle juice - it just transforms mayo based pasta salads to something glorious!
For more of my favorite pasta salads, visit my page on Pinterest!
Classic Shrimp and Macaroni Salad
Yield: About 4 to 6 servings
Prep time: 20 MinInactive time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 20 M
A macaroni salad made with shrimp, celery and green onion, and dressed with a blend of seasoned mayonnaise and sour cream. Sliced grape tomatoes are tossed in just before serving.
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups coarsely chopped cooked shrimp
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
For the Dressing:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Creole mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), optional
- 1/2 teaspoon of lemon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/3 cup pickle juice
Optional Add-ins:
- Chopped boiled eggs, chopped fresh green or red bell pepper, 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
Instructions
- Boil the pasta al dente 1 minute less than package directions. Drain, rinse and set aside to dry.
- Transfer pasta to a serving dish or storage container and drizzle with oil. Add the chopped shrimp, celery and green onion. Squeeze lemon over pasta and toss.
- Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients except pickle juice and fold into pasta. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Just before serving, let rest at room temperature for 20 minutes, stir in pickle juice and tomato.
Notes:
We use highly seasoned shrimp leftover from a boil when making this. Click here for my small batch shrimp boil recipe. If using frozen, already cooked, unseasoned shrimp, you will need to taste and make adjustments in the seasonings. May also substitute fresh tomatoes and when out of season and not at their best, you may substitute a (15 ounce) well drained can of diced tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes with green chilies in place of fresh tomatoes. Substitute Comeback Sauce for the dressing for a kick.
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