Orzo Pasta Salad

Last night I really wanted a fresh, light pasta salad...though I can't stand the traditional fusilli and Italian dressing version (like you are surprised). A friend of mine reminded me of the fabulous and oft-overlooked orzo pasta and I immediately thought of feta, pine nuts, parsley (oh, my).


I used/made up the following recipe and thought it turned out deliciously...exactly what I wanted it to be...sorry, no pictures, totally forgot.


1 cup Orzo pasta
2/3 cup diced grape tomatoes
1/3 of a red onion (diced)
1 handful of toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup cubed/crumbled feta cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lemon (for juice)


Make the orzo according to the package (boil) w/o fat. Drain and rinse with cold water. Toss w/ the olive oil to coat. Add the next 4 ingredients, topping w/ the feta cheese. Optional: add a handful of arugula to your plate and put the pasta salad on top. I did this because I love arugula and it adds that peppery punch to the pasta.

We served this alongside salt and pepper roast chicken and it was a great complement. Also great for lunch today.


Buon appetito!

What's your stance?

In case you've ever wondered why some shirts make you more Fabio than others...here's an interesting article on men's fashion...C is def a more "risque" button guy - he sports his male-cleavage quite nicely.

Parisian windows...(insert sigh here)

Shoe boutique sound-off

I am desperate for some new shoe boutiques...honestly, I am SO tired of local boutiques only carrying the high-end brands that the department stores do...if I wanted that, I would go to Sak's or Neimans (and I do). I expect a lot from boutique owners and here is why:

1. You get to personally select your merchandise. Yes, you are catering to your clients, but you don't need 18 colors of TB Riva's...we can get them elsewhere. What you need to do is find something to set you apart (like mid-priced brands or high-end shoes with distinct flourishes that you can't find anywhere)

2. You can edit other people's collections...again w/ the Riva comment...pick the 5 colors that complement the season. Say, metallics, whites, brights...you can let the black/brown pumps wait in the back for a few more months. Why think you have to put them ALL out? Having an edited selection is tighter and more exclusive...plus you'll sell out of your inventory if you price them right.


We want to shop from you, it's personal, it's fun, it's a neighborhood atmosphere - so let us enjoy the experience, namely by carrying a range of styles, designers, and prices. I'm a person that invests in shoes, but when I want a shoe to walk to work in, I'd rather spend $65 than $265 so keep some shoes in every price range for Pete's sake. Or mine.

Asparagus

Simple post to proclaim my love of the green stalk-y vegetable. I just love it. The end.

Well, if you want to know how we like it, throw 1 tps olive oil in a pan, saute minced garlic for 2 minutes until brown. Add cleaned, shaved spears (I cut them in half for optimal mixing). Saute for another 5-6 minutes until they get browned (like charred almost) and delicious.

Add salt and lemon to taste.

Las Vegas Trip Report

So, a few weeks ago (yes, I'm delinquent) I went to Las Vegas with my mother for a little mother/daughter adventure. Here's a quick rundown of where and what we ate, along with recommendations for how to increase your winnings by 189%.

Spago - Caesar's Palace in The Forum Shops (dinner)

This one is a mom favorite, I think because it's in the Forum, she's been there, and it's all food she knows. We started with crispy calamari, with a spicy remoulade sauce for dipping. Quite good and not overly fried. For dinner, I had a seared halibut fillet over jasmine rice and sauteed bok choy. It was topped with fried Thai chilis and those were a little bite of hot, salty goodness.

My mom just wanted a salad, so she ordered the Italian Chopped Salad - think provolone, salami, chicken, veggies - and cleaned her plate. Another noteworthy thing would be the bread basket...though you don't actually get one, they came around quite frequently and offered us grissini sticks and foccacia served with a goat cheese puree.

Strip Burger (lunch)

Newcomer to the Fashion Show mall, Strip Burger is housed on the corner near Cafe Ba Ba Reeba and has an outdoor patio. It was SO hot that we ate inside and froze. Either way, we enjoyed the fries and our food. My mom elected to get another chopped salad (more veggies this time) and I went with the California Chicken sandwich (mmm, pepperjack and avocado) which was delicious. I'm super bummed we didn't get shakes because EVERYONE else did and it made me jealous. But, seriously, those are so filling and I need C to be there to polish it off.

Enoteca San Marco (Dinner) - The Venetian

After a rocky start (late seating, triple sat waiter) we sat down at a great table on the "patio" in St. Mark's Square. We were sorta starved seeing it had been about 7 hours since lunch and we'd had a few drinks...there was a special appetizer salad that sounded amazing (and proved to be quite delicious) with fresh ricotta, fava beans, asparagus and radishes. It was the most fresh, Spring appetizer I could've asked for...especially during the heat wave. We followed this up with a braised pork belly ragu with fresh pasta and herbs. Definitely heavier than the previous dish, but it was so tender and tasty, I didn't care. I kept getting these savory/sweet bites, like there was some sort of brown sugar or carmelization that happened there. Yum.

We also went to perennial favorite Nobu (Hard Rock Hotel) which was amazing as always and we had a flirty waiter who made us tipsy and delighted. After we left, we decided that we should gamble. Roulette - no dice (like, literally and figuratively). Blackjack - lost again (x 2). Then we thought, let's stick to slots. Having never seen a 2 cent slot machine, we threw a $1 in.

ONE HOUR LATER...yup, still at the same machine. It was SO entertaining and we were so proud of our accomplishment (tell me you wouldn't be totally hyped if YOU got a 189% return on investment) that we sat and drank beer and laughed at all the cheap skates around us playing 2 cent slots. It was great - highly recommended.

So, as my mother kept announcing to everyone we talked to...this was our first trip of many :)

Viva Las Vegas.

Not so much...

I have found all of the world's missing scrunchies - yes, yes I have. They are all in the South End of Boston, being used by all the employees of Lan's Nails (Tremont). I haven't seen a scrunchie in, like, 5 years, let alone EIGHT scrunchies on relatively normal people.

The only person NOT wearing a scrunchie at Lan's Nails was the male cashier...did I miss something? Is it now cool to wear scrunchies? Watching the National Gymnastic trials this weekend, most of those girls wore leotard-matching scrunchies, too, and they're all under 18...shouldn't they be cooler than this?

What gives? Where do you even go GET a scrunchie? Please tell me, because they need to go the way of the Dodo.