Artichoke Shrimp Pasta Salad

Late February in Houston. The weather turned this week — warm front coming up from the Gulf, and by Thursday we had temperatures in the seventies and I had the back door open while I cooked. This is what I love about Houston winters: they're brief. Three weeks of actual cold and then it's shirtsleeves again. The city is many things, some of them difficult, but the weather is mostly on your side.

Work was busy. The new Vietnamese restaurant I'd consulted for back in January — Lan's place — had a soft opening and she called me to troubleshoot an issue with her commercial range burners. I drove out there and found the problem quickly enough (a gas pressure issue with the regulators, not the equipment itself) and she was so relieved she insisted I stay for lunch. I ate her bún bò Huế — the spicy beef noodle soup from central Vietnam — and it was extraordinary. More complex than pho, darker in flavor, with lemongrass and shrimp paste in the broth in a way that builds in your chest. I told her the broth was perfect. She said it was her grandmother's recipe. I said her grandmother was a genius. She laughed and gave me a container to take home.

Tyler called midweek. He's thinking about buying a house in Midland. He asked my opinion. I told him real estate was out of my expertise but that owning something was different from renting it in ways that weren't always about money. He said, "Like what?" I said, "Like the responsibility makes you stand up straighter." He was quiet for a moment and then said, "That sounds right." I was surprised I said something useful. It happens occasionally.

Posted a recipe for bún bò Huế on the blog over the weekend, inspired by Lan's version. Mine isn't as good as hers but it's better than any recipe I found online, which is a modest but genuine claim. I wrote about my grandmother's recipe memory, the way the smell of lemongrass and shrimp paste is so specifically Vietnamese that it bypasses the brain and goes straight to something older. Several readers wrote back saying the same thing about their own family foods. The point of this blog, I think, is just that: proving we all have the same somewhere-in-our-bones food memory, just different ingredients.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Lan’s kitchen after that Thursday — the way she fed me without hesitation, the container of broth she pressed into my hands at the door. That kind of generosity has a way of getting into your cooking. I wanted to make something that felt like that: bright and layered, built around shrimp, easy enough to share. This artichoke shrimp pasta salad isn’t bún bò Huế and it doesn’t try to be, but it carries the same instinct — good ingredients, treated with care, made for someone else to eat.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min + 30 min chilling | Servings: 6

Ingredients

12 oz rotini or penne pasta
1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup Italian dressing
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water to stop cooking, and set aside.
Cook the shrimp. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season shrimp with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Cook 2–3 minutes per side until pink and opaque. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then cut into bite-sized pieces if large.
Combine the salad. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooled pasta, shrimp, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes, olives, and red onion. Toss gently to distribute evenly.
Dress and season. Drizzle Italian dressing and lemon juice over the salad. Toss well to coat everything. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
Chill and serve. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors come together. Before serving, give it another toss and scatter fresh parsley over the top.

Nutrition (per serving)

Artichoke Shrimp Pasta Salad — A Nod to Lan’s Kitchen and the Week That Fed Me Well