Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Dijon Pasta Salad with Bacon and Peas

I was supposed to make the grocery list today on my lunch hour, but instead I bought a sandwich and spaced out to NPR in the car, so when I came home I knew I needed to decide what to make for the rest of the week. The only thing that kept sticking in my head was that I wanted a pasta salad, so we'd have leftovers for lunch, and I wanted the dressing to have mustard in it. (I always root for mustard during the condiment races at the K - it is the most perfect of condiments.) It seemed like I had seen something somewhere that met those two requirements, so I started hunting through the most recent of the 5 food magazines I subscribe to, and then it hit me. I had seen the recipe yesterday (which explains the bizzarely strong craving) and it was in the newest issue of Cooking Light.
I love food magazines. I love cookbooks. I read them like novels when I'm not reading novels, and I love finding recipe ideas and tweaking them according to our likes and dislikes. This salad is the perfect example. We love pasta with peas (in the wintertime, I throw frozen peas in at the very end of the pasta's cooking time and then toss the whole mess with slightly browned butter and fresh parmesan cheese), and even though I don't eat regular old bacon, I knew we had 8 slices of turkey bacon left in the fridge. I omitted the red bell pepper from the recipe, doubled the peas, and was "generous" with the mustard. It would be a great pick for a potluck, and the tartness of the lemons and dijon plays off the bacon perfectly.
Here's the link to the recipe on Cooking Light's site: Macaroni Salad with Bacon, Peas, and Creamy Dijon Dressing.

4 comments:

B.G. Roberts said...

Just found this blog, and already I LOVE it! GREAT work! I look forward to future entries!
~BG

Sara said...

Wow - I'm overhwhelmed! Thanks, everyone, for the support and for visiting!
mamagotcha, my disappointing muffin was from a new little bakery place in the City Market - I didn't catch their name, and wanted to give them time before I dismissed all their baked goods as blah. I try to be fair. :)

Dan said...

Wow. Your blog is what I want to be when I grow up!

Great work!!

scott said...

That pasta salad looks great. I've got to try it!