My First Recipe!

This week in the local paper my first recipe came out! I have to admit, while I was excited about it, I though, eh, it's just a recipe. But then I actually saw the recipe in print. A recipe that I developed. That was pretty cool to see. The folks at the paper also did a great job putting the recipe in its own little section so that it's clippable and anyone who wants it can get at it easily.

For my first recipe I created a recipe that I called Spicy Mediterranean Pasta Salad. I started with a trip to the farmer's market, and let the produce there inspire my salad. The day I put the recipe on paper was a great day at the market, I found fresh spinach, cucumbers, new red onions, and gorgeous cherry tomatoes. While assembling the salad, I also added a few convenience items- bottled banana peppers, kalamata olives, and then some leftovers- shredded chicken and feta cheese. The beauty of this salad is that you can change it up to whatever you want it to be. Don't like cucumbers? Try thinly sliced kohlrabi. No cherry tomatoes? How about some beautiful red bell pepper instead. Found some new carrots? Throw them in. This salad is limited only by imagination.

For the dressing I made a spicy vinaigrette with crushed red pepper flake. The pepper could certainly be reduced if needed, and truly, in a pinch, a bottle of spicy Italian dressing could fill in for the homemade vinaigrette. It really is an excellent salad. We ate quite a bit of it while I was developing the recipe, and we never got sick of it. I have the recipe for Spicy Mediterranean Pasta Salad in the Recipe Trove. If you are interested in seeing it in print, you can click here to check it out in the Seymour Times Press. Scroll down a tiny bit and you'll find it.