I wanted to make something light over the weekend, so I decided to try my hand at pasta cooking for the first time in a while.

Pasta is surprisingly easy to make, so I often enjoy warm dishes like cream pasta or tomato pasta.

However, with the weather getting hotter in Dallas, I decided to try making a cool shrimp pasta salad after watching a YouTube video.

The ingredients were simpler than I expected, and the process wasn't difficult, making it a dish that even those who don't cook often can definitely try.

First, I washed the salad greens and cherry tomatoes thoroughly and cut them into bite-sized pieces.

While taste is important in food, color is also crucial, and from this stage, it already started to feel like a café brunch menu.

For the dressing, I mixed 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of tsuyu, 1 tablespoon of oligo syrup, 1 tablespoon of plum extract, 1/4 tablespoon of minced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, adding a little salt and pepper.

At first, the combination of soy sauce and sesame oil felt a bit unfamiliar, but after making it, I found it to be rich in umami and likely to suit Korean tastes well.

In a pan heated over medium heat, I added olive oil and cooked the shrimp.

As the shrimp turned red, a savory aroma began to rise, and I started to feel hungry.

If cooked too long, they can become tough, so I turned off the heat when they were just right.

Now it's time to cook the pasta. Add a little salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to boiling water.

Then, add the pasta and boil for about 8-10 minutes, rinse it in cold water, and remove the excess water.

After boiling, I rinsed the noodles in cold water to cool them down and removed the excess water.

Unlike regular pasta, pasta for salads should be served cold, so it's important to maintain a firm texture.

Finally, in a large bowl, I combined the pasta, salad greens, cherry tomatoes, and shrimp, pouring in the prepared dressing and mixing everything well.

The mildness of the shrimp, the crunchiness of the vegetables, and the flavorful dressing blended perfectly.

Thanks to the dressing with sesame oil and tsuyu, it had a deeper flavor than a regular salad, and with the pasta, it provided enough satisfaction for a meal.

I think it's a great dish to make on days when a heavy cream sauce feels too much or when you lack appetite in the summer.

Even those who are not confident in cooking can relatively easily make this recipe, which has a visual and taste good enough to serve to guests.

In the future, it might be nice to try adding chicken breast or smoked salmon as variations.

I found a dish that I think I will be making often after trying it once from YouTube.