(06-25-2012 08:37 AM)Lady Floydian Wrote:  I don't have a formal recipe for it, because I do everything to taste, but it's a pasta salad with fresh spinach, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. Basically you boil a pound of pasta, I like using medium-sized shells for this, and when they're al dente, drain them. Add it to a bowl with two bags of fresh baby spinach (it wilts down to practically nothing, which is why I use two bags; if you like lots of spinach, use more), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper and chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese. You can buy it at your regular grocery store, usually where all the specialty cheeses are. I buy about two or three balls of it, and cut it into pieces and toss it in there. Dice up some tomatoes or buy pre-diced tomatoes and toss it in.

It's great during the summer because there's no mayo in it, and if you want to take it on a picnic or some outdoor event and you're worried about it keeping, omit the cheese.

That's a great summer recipe! fresh mozz is awesome. If you like fresh basil leaves, this is a great recipe to add some of that as well...

Oh yeah, you can add anything to this. You can use whatever kind of shaped pasta you want, you can add tons of different veggies to it, if you don't like balsamic vinegar you can make a red wine vinaigrette instead...it's entirely customizable.

What makes it so great isn't just its versatility, but it's as health-conscious as you want it to be.

I make something similar but instead of balsamic I use pesto and I use feta instead of mozz, but your version sounds good as well!

I've really started to take excercise and diet more seriously now that I'm 45. I've just had too many friends die within the last few years, and that really hits you and makes you think to yourself .."you know Jeff, if you don't take the initiative you're next". So, I've started to change my lifestyle a bit. Basically, I try to balance things out and not over indulge. I use my weekend as an incentive to work hard during the week.

For instance... I know that next weekend Im taking the train down to Chicago to hit Navy Pier and a few other places. If I work hard excercising these next 2 weeks and watch my diet, it makes me feel a helluva lot better when I spend the afternoon at Goose Island Brewery, The house of Blues and Jimmy Buffets place...:)

Okay back to the recipe. I love salmon, and find myself eating a lot more of it. I prefer buying fresh Atalntic salmon to eat the same day. First I'll rub with olive oil and then sprinkle a little garlic salt, pepper and paprika. I like to squeeze a lime wedge on top. during winter I bake it, but now that its summer I like to fire up the Webber and cook over coals. Never ever ever overcook fish. 1 pound of salmon takes maybe 15-20 min max depending on how hot you made the fire. I never cook right over the coals either; I shove them to one side and put the fish on the other.

Salmon is my favorite fish. I could eat an entire salmon if you put it down in front of me. I too like it grilled, but cooked in the oven is excellent as well. I like it really, really simple - just some lemon and s&p. Some salmon dishes I've had where there's a lot of seasoning on it tend to overpower the flavor of the fish, and it's really light and delicate, which I enjoy.

Throw some rice pilaf and broccoli on the side, and I'm there.

Paella is great outdoors cooking. It takes a little longer than hot dogs so stock up on cold drinks!

You will need a pan like this:



Mine just fits on a standard 22.5" weber grill. Adjust the measurements accordingly for a smaller or larger pan. It it's a picnic I cook on a campfire, arrange a few stones on which to put the pan, and fire away underneath. At home I use the weber which is handy since it's easy to adjust the heat using the bottom vent. Some use gas burners but I like fire and smoke... This recipe will serve about eight.

Ingredients:

2 chickens
3 onions
3 green peppers
6 garlic cloves
0.5 grams of sapphron
I box of rice (1 kg), 10 mins cooking time
3 litres of chicken stock
500 grams of shrimps, unpeeled
Oil, salt and pepper

Cut the chickens in about 12 pieces each and fry them in oil until they start to brown. Stir with a longhandled spatula as it can get quite hot. Add the coarsely chopped onions and green peppers and let everything sizzle for a couple of minutes. Season, but lightly on the salt since the chicken stock is salty.

Add chopped garlic and sapphron, stir for another minute, and then add the rice. Stir everything together so that the rice absorbs the oil and everything mixes nicely. Start adding chicken stock. First pour enough to cover the rice and then keep adding as the stock reduces. By this time stop stirring. The paella should "stick" a little to the pan when it's finished, having a baked structure in the bottom.

The rice will take longer than usual since there's no lid on the pan. If you run out of chicken stock, just add water until the rice is cooked. I use precooked, frozen, shrimps, and add them when it's a few minutes to go. Serve with a green salad, aioli and lots of wine!

I love paella. I especially love it when there's chorizo involved.

I made mac and cheese the other day, and it was really good. So I made it again the next day, but I threw up. Great stuff, though.