The heat has finally arrived in Northern California, and with it, the need for some cooling pasta salads. Here's a simple and easy shrimp pasta salad made with those little pink shrimp that you can find in the freezer section of almost any grocery store. While our gulf shrimp fisheries are suffering at the moment, these little shrimp come from sustainable fisheries in the cold, sub-Arctic oceans, either Atlantic or Pacific. They're called boreal shrimp, Maine shrimp, or just "pink shrimp" because they're pink even when they're raw. But you won't buy them raw. Pink shrimp come already cleaned and processed, ready to eat. We've made this salad a couple of times already, most recently for a potluck where it was a big hit. Fresh basil, red bell peppers, red onions, and a lemon and olive oil dressing with just a sprinkle of red chili pepper flakes dance well with the shrimp and pasta. We think you'll like it. - Bonnie Foster

I make a lot of Shrimp Pasta salads in the summer, similar to this, but I like to add Kalamata Olives to the mix. - Bonnie Foster