Pasta, Salad and an Award!

I love blogging and food bloggers are turning out to be some of the best people anywhere. I guess maybe it's because we all share a common bond and are doing this because we have such a huge passion for it. Pretty sure none of us are being forced to do this?

That's why it is so incredible when you receive an award from one of your blogging friends. It's a form of validity...hey, someone really likes what I am doing! My sincere thanks go out to Val from More Than Burnt Toast for giving me this award. It came on the end of a pretty challenging time so it was doubly appreciated.

Brilliant Weblog is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogosphere.

Here are the rules to follow :

When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back.

Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design.
Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog’.

The hardest part about getting these awards is trying to come up with just a couple of names to pass this onto!

In no particular order:

Nikki - The Canarygirl
Robin at Caviar and Codfish
Jenn - The Left Over Queen
Heather at Gild the Voodoolily
Nuria at Spanish Recipes
Peter at Kalofagas
and last but not least Courtney at Coco Cooks

Thanks again Val!!!


Dinner last night was a thrown together meal of pasta and salad. The girl's are back in school today after their Hurricane Day on Tuesday which means homework and helping with the homework and redirecting to get them to do their homework etc... You get the idea. Homework is not the best time in our household. While my oldest daughter was doing hers I decided to make some of my favorite summer pasta dish. Pasta with Basil, Fresh Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic. This time though I just didn't feel like roasting the garlic so I minced it up and tossed it in with all of the other ingredients. It made the raw sauce taste even fresher than it did before if that was possible!

Pasta With Fresh Tomato, Garlic and Basil

8 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
3/4 lb ripe plum tomatoes (I just use whatever is tasting good right them)
1/3 C fresh basil (chopped)
1 Tbsp capers
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 box of long thin pasta (angel hair, linguine, spaghetti)

Directions:

• Dice the tomatoes (if the have a ton of seeds squeeze them out).
• Add the garlic, basil, capers, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
• Let stand for at least 20 minutes.
• Cook pasta.
• Mix sauce with pasta and serve warm or at room temperature. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I served the pasta with a herb salad mix and this nice, light and well balanced salad dressing.


Todd English's Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients: 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove minced 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh sage leaves (optional) 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (optional) 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

• Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a jar. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com