My PINK Flamingo Summers

Let’s Flamingle!

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Busy Standing on one leg…. Currently

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Julie’s Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad

(A Rough Draft)

Our Pink Backyard Bromeliad in Bloom

I got the idea that I wanted to make something very Florida, and very Palm Beach. A light lunch kind of thing. Flamingos kept popping into my head. But, not just the Flamingos themselves, but what kinds of foods that Flamingos eat. I knew they ate Shrimp, that is what keeps them nice and PINK. I wanted to know what else they ate so I did my research online and I’ve added some of those Flamingo tasty treats to my Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad.

I hope you will enjoy it, along with some other nice Florida Flamingo Summer Foods as I hope to update this as time goes by.

Barbie Isn’t The Only Thing That’s PINK!

Julie Barefoot

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Our Herb Garden Flamingo

Backyard PINK!

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My Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad

(Recipe Down Below)

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Ready for Delivery to my Loved Ones

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Waving My Magic Whisk 🙂

These Are The Best Crackers From The Asian Supermarket

I Like To Eat Some Sort Of Cracker With a Pasta Salad

It Tastes Better on a Flamingo Plate 🙂 (With Grapes)

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The Flamingo Photo’s I Took at Busch Gardens

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I’ve Always Been One To Stand On One Leg Myself,

Guess I’m Part Flamingo.

Flamingo Habitat at Busch Gardens, Florida

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PINK Hot Chili Pasta

Something HOT For The Florida HEAT

You Can Also Rearrange It Into A Nice Pasta Sandwich

(Recipe Down Below)

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Recipes Start Here

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Julie’s Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad

As with any kind of Pasta Salad, or Salad in general, you can always add as much or as little as you like. It’s all up to personal tastes. You can also omit ingredients that you don’t like, or want in your salads. What I am giving you is a guide in creating something nice for yourself and your family, or any nice Summer Gathering you may host, or be invited to.

I based this on my love of Flamingos and their diet. They eat Shrimp, Seeded Grass, Algae, Fly Larvae, Tiny Briny Crustaceans, and other Plants and Animals that live in shallow waters.

I didn’t add all of the Flamingo diet to my salad, obviously, but I did base it on the foods they do eat.

I Hope That You Will Be Inspired!

Gathering All of My Ingredients

I Did Double My Recipe To Give To Family

Ingredients:

Flamingo Pasta (Kind of a must.)

Red Onion, Chopped

Yellow Chives, Chopped

Flowering Chives, as Garnish

Celery, Chopped

Radishes, Sliced

Daikon Radish, Sliced

Fresh, or Frozen Peas, (Thawed, if frozen.)

Mayonnaise, To Taste

Hot Sauce, To Taste

Wasabi, To Taste

Cocktail Onions

Aji-Miren, To Taste

Shrimp, Already Cooked

Arugula

Pumpkin Seeds

Pink Pickled Ginger

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The Shrimp you see above right, I bought already cooked and ready to eat from the grocery store. It came frozen.

I just needed to thaw them out for my Salad.

The Enoki Mushrooms I didn’t use in this salad.

I did place some around my luncheon bowl to eat with my Pasta Salad though.

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Flowering Chives, Yellow Chives, Daikon Radish, and Radishes

As with any Salad you do need to clean the ingredients. In the photo top left, I have my Flowering Chives and Yellow Chives I purchased from The Asian Supermarket. They have some of the most exotic ingredients you will ever find. The green chives has a flower at the end, I’ll show you how I use those when I put the Salad together. The Yellow Chives add a nice pale color with a slight oniony taste to the Salad.

Vegetables Drying

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With my Vegetables drying, it’s time to boil my Pasta.

Just follow whatever the package directions say on your Pasta you will be using.

When done, drain into a Colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and to cool the Pasta down.

Place the Pasta into a large Mixing Bowl.

Now we start to add the ingredients to the Pasta.

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Eyeball and Taste

(This is what we do from now on.)

I purchased already chopped Red Onion from the grocery store to save a little time.

I’m adding as much as I like, no measurements.

Chopping Celery

Pasta, Red Onion, and Celery

Slicing the Radishes

They add a pepper taste and I love the texture and the pretty pink rings.

A Daikon Radish is ugly on the outside and beautiful on the inside.

Just use a Potato Peeler to remove the outside.

You can see the pretty flower when sliced. I’m saving these to be used as more of a Garnish.

The Peas were already washed and ready so I just added as many as I wanted.

Mixing Together To Judge the Ratios

At some point I also added the Yellow Chives by simply snipping them with a pair of scissors.

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Now Comes The Wet Stuff

I just want to use the Mayonnaise to combine the Salad.

I really don’t like that much as it is usually very rich.

It’s Coming Together Nicely

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This is something of an experiment in deciding which one I liked better.

I did add a few dashes of both.

The Cocktail Onions are to add that Briny Bite that I wanted.

The Wasabi Paste is also to Add Some great HEAT!

Add a Tablespoon or Two of Miren. It adds a Wonderful Sweetness.

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Thawing The Shrimp

This was another shortcut that I took in making this Salad. I bought the Shrimp already prepared, and frozen to be eaten as a Shrimp Cocktail. All I had to do was to thaw them out and drain any excess water. I did have to pat them dry as they were a bit wet from the thawing, and I didn’t want any extra water in my Salad. I did remove their Tails.

Adding The Shrimp

(Be sure to place into the refrigerator to chill before serving, at least a few hours.)

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Ready to Plate My Pasta Salad

A Bed of Arugula

Chilled Overnight

The Pumpkin Seeds are to be Scattered About,

and a Dollop of the Pink Pickled Ginger on Top

I do admit that my Pasta Salad presentation is a bit ‘over the top.’ In my defense, I was feeling very creative and having lots of fun. I guess I’d rather have it be that way, than have it be more presentable to a sophisticated crowd. 🙂

You Can See The Flowering Chives in my Bowl Above,

Kind of Looks Like a Plant

I Hope You Have As Much Fun As I Did!

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PINK Hot Chili Pasta

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It was when I was shopping for my Flamingo Pasta that I came across this online.

Tagliatelle Peperoncino.

It is some Pasta with some HEAT! And I love it!

Also, that little jar of Spicy Chili Onion Crisp is wonderful drizzled on top!

I do admit that I kind of threw this together using what I already had in the Pantry, and the Refrigerator.

I combined the sauces that you see above. I used about a jar, and a half a jar of the other.

I place the sauces into a pot on the stove top and put it on a medium-heat.

That black blob on my sauce is Freshly Ground Black Pepper, I also snipped some Yellow Chives into the sauce as well.

I had some Roasted Garlic in the fridge as well and smooshed about 6 -8 Cloves into my sauce. I want it to simmer away for awhile, until it thickens up. When it starts to boil then I turn the heat down a notch or two. When that setting starts to boil, then I turn it down another notch or two, until finally it is all nice and thick on a low setting. Sometimes this can take up to an hour or longer. Be sure to keep an eye on it, stirring periodically so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.

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