Fresh Green Pasta Salad

I made this on a lark when I was pressed for time and ingredients and had promised a pasta salad for a gathering.  Now I can't get enough of it!   With a nod to spring (peas) and my favorite snack, guacamole, you might find it's worth rotating into your potluck repertoire.

Fresh Green Pasta Salad


Serves 6


1 pound pasta shells
1 ripe avocado
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, sliced (green and white parts)
1 cup fresh or frozen peas (thaw if frozen)
2 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
salt and black pepper to taste

In well-salted water, cook the pasta al dente according to package directions.  When it is done, drain in a colander and run under cool water to stop the cooking process.

While pasta cooks, combine avocado, lime juice, and garlic in a medium bowl.  Mash until smooth (you can also use a food processor for this), then fold in yogurt, cilantro, and green onions.  Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.

Alright alright, I'll make Superbowl food

After the brief 80s revival that occurred in the late 90s (or judging by the sound of indie bands today, perhaps it's ongoing), I thought I'd gotten over my nostalgia for Frankie Goes to Hollywood and neon sweatshirts, but I feel a wave of it coming on lately.  Suddenly Spandau Ballet is amusing instead of irritating, and I have found myself craving the Good Housekeeping-approved recipes of my childhood at an alarming rate.  Did anyone else eat 7 Layer Dip at every party from 1982 to about 1994?  Was it just a Midwestern thing, or just a low-class thing (if so, I'm OK with it)?  I have been craving it for weeks--both the unimaginative,Taco Bell-like flavors and the memories of the Harvest Gold and/or Avocado kitchen appliances that helped make it possible.

I thought I might try to update the dip a little to suit my super-classy, grown-up tastes.  I'm also pretty excited about the fact that I am now old enough to drink beer with this junk, which probably negates the need for the higher quality ingredients.  Gimme a holla if you remember this delectable American classic, and share your own variations below!

Aaaaaw yeah, baby.

7 Layer Dip 2.0

Serves somewhere between 1 & 16


2 lbs mixed mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (16 ounce) can black beans
1 tablespoon lime juice
4 cups shredded cheese 
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 cup guacamole
1 cup salsa
1 cup mixed olives, chopped
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onions

In a large skillet, saute mushrooms, garlic, and onion with a little salt. Drain in a colander and set aside cool to room temperature.

In a 9 x 13 casserole or serving dish, spread the black beans, season with salt, and sprinkle with the lime juice.  Smash the beans a bit with the back of a wooden spoon and spread evenly, creating a layer about 1 inch deep.   Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded cheese on top of beans. Sprinkle mushroom mixture on top of cheese. Spread sour cream very slowly on top of mushrooms. Spread guacamole on top of sour cream. Pour salsa over guacamole and spread evenly. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese. Sprinkle olives, tomatoes, and green onions on top.

Serve at room temperature with pita chips or those delicious, middle-aged fashionable multigrain tortilla chips they're selling now. 

Happy Halloween, blah blah blah

I don't really like Halloween--small children are trained to go begging door-to-door for candy.  What kind of holiday is that?  It's lame.

I remember when I was in sixth grade (the oldest grade in my elementary school), I was sure we wouldn't have to dress up for Halloween anymore.  Don't get me wrong--I always dressed up with everyone else, but it was merely out of peer pressure and license to eat too much candy.  I wasn't going to be the only other kids, besides Terri the Jehovah's Witness, not partying with everyone.  But I had been waiting to be old enough to end the charade, and I thought, surely as the Big Kids in the school, we were far too mature for such crap.  I was wrong.  I half-heartedly dressed, once again, as a princess that year, but I was pissed about it.

Now I am 37 and most of my friends still like dressing up like weirdos.  I don't get it, but at least they drink instead of eating Milk Duds.  Those things suck.  Here's one for you, Halloween fans!

Dia de los Muertos Strawberry Margaritas

Serves 4

3 1/2 cups strawberries, washed and hulled

2 1/2 cups crushed ice

1/2 cup tequila

1/2 cup lime juice

1/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons triple sec

lime wedges or garnish (optional)

Combine all ingredients except lime wedges in a blender and process until mixture is smooth.  Pour into glass and garnish each with a lime wedge if desired.  

Eat some guacamole with these, OK?

I stole this guacamole from cable t.v., and I am not ashamed

I recently visited my parents, who, among many other wonderful traits, have cable t.v. And so, I was of course watching the Food Network’s “Best Things I Ever Ate”, which celebrated Cleveland’s Lopez Southwestern Grill for their crazy, insane-sounding guacamole with bleu cheese, bacon, and sage. And you know what came next . . . here is my non-meat version, and you know, even though it does sound insane, it’s our new go-to guacamole around the house.


The basics:

1 mashed avocado
1 teaspoon powdered cumin
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small jalapeno, finely chopped
1 small roma tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon (or to taste) salt

Mix all above ingredients together. Then add:

2 strips Morningstar Breakfast Strips (or real bacon), cooked to extreme crispness and crumbled
6-8 fresh sage leaves, finely cut into strips (must use fresh—dried tastes too different)
1 teaspoon bleu cheese crumbles


I thought it sounded so wrong that I had to try it. And now I can’t make guacamole any other way.