Shrimp, Asparagus and Zucchini Orzo Salad
Light, healthy and nutritious, tossed in the most amazing lemon Dijon vinaigrette!
With the weather getting warmer, what’s a better way to kickstart this healthy summer season than with this awesome orzo salad?
But this certainly is not just any ordinary pasta salad. It’s loaded with fresh ingredients, perfectly seasoned shrimp, crisp-tender asparagus spears, sautéed zucchini and DeLallo’s SaladSavors.
From feta and olives to blue cheese and cherries, DeLallo is dressing up salads from drab to fab, and with their Zesty Feta SaladSavors, you can load this up with bites of tangy feta, smoky Kalamata olives and strips of sweet roasted red peppers.
And to finish it off, the salad is tossed in a refreshing yet tangy lemon Dijon dressing. A dressing so good, you might as well serve it with a spoon. Or you can double the dressing recipe as needed for later use. I promise – it won’t go to waste!
Shrimp, Asparagus and Zucchini Orzo Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces orzo pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 8 ounces asparagus, trimmed
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For the lemon dijon vinaigrette
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon sugar, optional
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
Instructions
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon, sugar and basil in a small bowl; set aside.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp, salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Add garlic to the skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add asparagus and zucchini, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in pasta, shrimp and vinaigrette, to taste; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately with feta, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the National Fisheries Institute Shrimp Council. All opinions expressed are my own.
Wow great dish, my kid is going to love this 🙂
This was really good! Thanks for sharing. Keep it up admin 🙂
ITS FANTASTIC I SURE LOVE TO TRY IT .THANKS FOR SHAREING 🙂
I made this tonight, it was FANTASTIC!
I didn’t use the sugar and I was find with it 🙂
Seriously so easy and yummy!
Made this last night and it was delicious. Recipe is a keeper!
This was a very good recipe. If you are not used to bolder flavours in your salad dressing, you may wish to experiment with the amount of apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard you use. I really liked this salad served warm as it brought out the flavours very well. Will absolutely make this one again.
can you tell me any alternative of olive oil in this recipe?
Here is a great forum discussing substitutes for oil. Hope that helps!
I made this dish for dinner tonight (probably my fourth time making it) and I’m still totally in love. Pretty much any recipe that includes shrimp or lemon has my attention but the veggies add flavor and make this a healthier option instead of other more fattening and less nutritious pasta dishes I enjoy. I even have my picky fiance eating it (although he insists I cook the veggies till their almost overcooked and dumps half the container of feta in his bowl). Anyway I just had to let you know much I enjoy your recipe and was wondering if you ever use the dressing on salads (with lettuce)?
Yes, this works on salads as well – we make it at least once a week! 🙂
yes please! Prawns rock my world.
I am going to serve for the fourth of July. I look forward to trying it.
This was really good! I made sure to try the vinaigrette before adding it to the other ingredients and it was perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
I like this guide. Thank you!
Tried tonight, not a winner unfortunately. The vinaigrette was strong and I only used half. If you want it to look like photo do not follow instructions by mixing all together. Trying your potato chips tonight! Asian Chicken salad was a winner though!
With the heavy vinaigrette I bet this salad would be better cold.
What a bummer! Yes, you may not need all of the dressing, and it should be added “to taste” as indicated in the instructions. You can always add a little bit more sugar for next time to balance it out to your taste preferences. As for the photos – everything is actually mixed together. I simply just topped it off with a few shrimp for photographic purposes. That’s it! 🙂
Orzo salads are the BEST! I’ve been stuck in a rut with a greek style orzo salad but this shrimp version looks incredible. Pinned!
This looks absolutely delicious!!
I wonder if this would be equally good with quinoa?
Yes, absolutely!
Wow! This looks incredible. Putting it on my grocery list right now!
I’m confused, is this a hot dish off the stove or do you refrigerate it and eat it as a salad?
You can have it hot or cold – it’s up to you!