Shrimp Pasta Salad With Cucumber & Dill

Today is officially the last day of summer. Though I’ve been in an autumn mindset for weeks already, I figured I’d share one last summery recipe before I start firing up the slow cooker. What says summer more than pasta salad? Many of the dressings on pasta salads are too sweet for my taste – I much prefer a tart, tangy dressing. When I came across this recipe for a Shrimp Pasta Salad with Cucumber and Dill, it sounded right up my alley!

This pasta salad was incredibly easy to put together. The dressing was made by whisking together mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon, and salt and pepper. The dressing was then incorporated into the shell pasta along with shrimp, chopped cucumber, and dill.

This dish was excellent – perhaps my favorite pasta salad yet! The dressing was perfectly tart, without being sour or overpowering. The cucumbers made the dish so refreshing, and the dill was a perfect accent. I will absolutely be making this again. Do you have a favorite pasta salad recipe?

Cucumber, Lemon, & Mint Infused Water

My husband and I went out to dinner the other day, and I noticed a jug of water on the hostess’s station with slices of lemon, cucumber, and mint floating in it. I had a small sample while we were waiting to be seated – it was so delicious, refreshing, and unlike anything I’d ever tried! I knew I had to get my hands on a recipe to recreate it. After a little online research, I decided to follow this recipe.

I thinly sliced a whole lemon and about half a cucumber, putting both in my 2 quart glass pitcher. I snipped three sizable sprigs of mint from the plant I have growing on my kitchen windowsill and tossed them in too. I filled the rest of the pitcher with cold, filtered water and put it into the fridge overnight. Sure, you could serve this right away, but I recommend giving the fruits & veggies ample time to infuse the water. The flavors will intensify the longer it sits.

I think this recipe is perfect for those who dislike drinking plain water (hi Mom!), or for those that simply need a change of pace from their usual summer lemonades, iced tea, lattes, etc. This infused water is flavorful, but not overpowering, and is essentially calorie free. I even enjoyed snacking on some of the cucumbers as I sipped glass after glass all weekend. Enjoy!

Baked Salmon with Cucumber Dill Sauce

This past week, when I asked my husband if he had any special requests for his birthday dinner, he quickly said “salmon!” I chose a recipe for Baked Salmon with Cucumber Dill Sauce from the cookbook The Illustrated Kitchen Bible. I was able to find the recipe online here.

The salmon prep was super simple – I brushed the salmon filets with basting oil and lemon juice, seasoned with salt and pepper, and popped it in the oven! For the sauce, I peeled and diced some cucumber, which I mixed with plain yogurt, dijon mustard, scallions, and dill.

Once the salmon was done in the oven (about 10 minutes), I topped the salmon with the cucumber dill sauce and served along side some long grain wild rice and extra cucumber slices. Ta-da!

Overall, this meal was quite delicious (and easy)! The flavor of the salmon itself was pretty mild, but the sauce gave it a tangy kick. The sauce is similar to tzatziki sauce, which I have made numerous times to go with lamb. It had never occurred to me to create a similar topping for fish!

I’m planning on breaking out the slow cooker again this weekend. The weather here rapidly changed from the high 50′s to 9 degrees and snowy. To me, that calls for some homemade soup!