Of Greek Salad & Litchfield ...

OK, so we went to this totally awesome place to see fall colors...Litchfield. I wanted to pack something healthy yet filing. I made some Greek salad as it fit the bill! Here is the quick recipe:-

Cook Penne al-dente with S&P, Oregano and olive oil. While pasta is cooking away, I diced cucumber, tomato, olives, basil and crumbled fetaaaah. Keep the vegetables wrapped in a paper towel to absorb the moisture.

For dressing, one can always buy ready made dressing but I love the taste of home-made dressing. Take my word - it really is very simple to make. Mix lime juice, S&P, anchovy paste and while stirring all this up, keep pouring in olive oil.

Once the dressing reaches a desired consistency, throw in vegetables, olives, rinsed pasta and add crumbled feta to heart's content.

Pasta salads and Greek salads are best served cold so after a night in freezer, I packed it up in little chinese containers and made sure chop sticks came along for the ride too. :)



P.S. I bought Anchovy paste from Whole foods and I am sure other grocery stores carry it too...

Pasta Al dente

Today we organized a baby shower in park for a dear friend...It was a little "hat-ke" (different) celebration with beautiful fall colors around...The shower was a surprise for the mom-to-be and the weather was just right. You gotta love it when a plan comes together!!!

Since it was pot luck and there were vegetarians in the group, I made vegetable pasta for the table. Started with cooking pasta in pot of boiling water. Added S&P, Oregano and crushed Basil in pot of water for extra Italian. In the same pot I also add some olive oil to keep pasta separate.

As the pasta cooks it way to al-dente, I started with preparing vegetables. Cut all the vegetables in bite size...I added red peppers, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower and water chestnuts. One can add as many vegetable and can never go wrong. For Non-Vegetable version, I would clean, cut and add any meat or shrimp in this step.

Heated the olive oil in a wok and added some garlic. When oil starts to be fragrant with garlic, add vegetables. Add S&P, oregano and basil. Cook them for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Added vodka sauce and lime juice and let it simmer. In about another 3-4 minutes, added the drained pasta. Toss and Turn!

Once you are ready to plate, garnish with parsley, basil and lime wedges. Proof:

Sunday Brunch 10/03/10

After a good session at gym, I decided to treat hubby and myself to some Mediterranean inspired brunch. Following the three essentials in meal - protein, vegetables and ever so loved carbs.

Sauteed shrimp with lime, oregano, salt and pepper. Threw them on the griddle with a drizzle of olive oil and butter. With in a couple of minutes they had awesome tan lines on them and were ready to be devoured.

I used pugliese bread, topped it with crumbled feta cheese, campari tomato slices and flat Italian parsley...This was my first experience with broiling so hoped for the best and expected the worse. Anyhow set the oven to 525 F and broiled the tomota-cheese-bread for approx 6 mins.

Mushroom took the least bit effort...once shrimps were done, I used the same pan and drizzled a little olive oil on them, S&P and a splash of red wine.

Picture is worth a thousand words so here you go; sharing our brunch today with you!