Give it up for the Greeks.

Anyone who knows me knows that I adore food--good, well-seasoned food and lots of it. And though I love all types of food (except tofu and tripe) Greek food is what I crave a lot of the time. Not only is Greece the birthplace of philosophy and mythology, it's also the cradle of civilization when it comes to seriously yummy eats.

My obsession with all things Greek comes as no surprise to my old co-workers at APX Alarm. When I was pregnant with Carter, I ate Greek food from a little restaurant a couple of miles from the office almost every single day. For at least two months, it was pretty much the only food I ate, period. I never got tired of it. It was so much of a sure thing, in fact, that my friend Lindsay remarked one day, "Steph, I'm really concerned that your baby is going to come out Greek." He didn't, but I probably wouldn't have minded.

Skip ahead five years to present day: specifically GIRLS NIGHT OUT tonight! I got put in charge of making a pasta salad for dinner. I decided that instead of making a run-of-the-mill Mormon pasta salad (though they're also very yummy), I wanted to make a Mediterranean pasta salad. I thought about it for a few days, and with a little help from the internet I came up with the most divine pasta salad EVER in the history of salads! Ok, I may be exaggerating and it could prove to be a huge flop at our shindig tonight, but to me it tastes like the holy grail of pasta salad.

So, long story short, here's my first-ever recipe! It may still need some tweaking depending on the response it gets at the party tonight, but it's still pretty darn good. I hope you like it!

Stephanie's Mediterranean Pasta Salad (I'll think of a better name for it later.)



Ingredients:

Salad--

16 oz. Rotini pasta, cooked to al dente, drained and cooled
1 large cucumber, diced
3 vine-ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 red onion, diced really small
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
3-4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

Dressing
(Note: I modified this recipe from a similar one I found on Allrecipes.com. It can be used for any type of salad, and I think you could probably also use it as a marinade. This recipe makes more than you need to dress the salad, so pop it in an airtight container and keep the leftovers in the fridge for a few weeks....though I doubt it will last that long.)

1 c. good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 c. red wine vinegar
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried basil
3/4 t. pepper
3/4 t. salt
3/4 t. onion powder
3/4 t. dijon mustard

Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a large mixing bowl. Using a wire whisk, beat the heck out of it until the mixture has emulsified. Set aside. (You can even make this a day in advance to allow the flavors to blend.)

In a large serving bowl, combine all the salad ingredients. Pour some of the dressing mixture over the top. Toss the salad together and then taste it to adjust the amount of dressing if needed. Serve with grilled chicken or steak kababs or just eat a huge bowl of it all by yourself. Live and let live, I say.



P.S.--Trying out recipes is hard on my kitchen.

Inspired by a pioneer woman and little rat named Remy.

The movie "Ratatouille" is Carter's latest obsession.



He quotes it at random times and begs to watch it at least once a day. His favorite character this week is Anton Ego, the terrifyingly evil food critic who feels that his mission in life is to shut down Gusteau's restaurant. Last week, he said, "Mom, I want to be like him when I grow up." Silently, I thought "What, terrifying? Evil?" But to my relief, he followed up his surprise declaration with, "I want to be a food critic."

Again my thoughts took over and I started to wonder, "Don't you have to actually EAT food in order to be a food critic?!" Because lately getting Carter to eat a meal is like declaring war--a world war that would last forever if not for the lengthy negotiations, diplomacy, and treaties.

So today, when he told me he wanted to eat rataouille--the EXACT ratatouille shown in the movie, thank you very much--I hastily agreed. Pretty veggies all lined up and baked? DONE.

I found a recipe for Ratatouille's Ratatouille on a site called Smitten Kitchen. (Find the recipe here.) And then, in true Pioneer Woman style, I decided to document the entire process in pictures. (If you haven't visited her site, GO. NOW. I'LL WAIT.)

Can I just say that I love slicing veggies? And cooking? And I LOVE it when food is pretty. So today's meal was nirvana for me.

Start with this.


Super-thinly sliced yellow squash, zuchini, eggplant, and red bell pepper. (Yes, I know a mandoline would be easier/faster, but I don't have one and slicing veggies is therapeutic for me.)

In a baking dish, mix together tomato puree, thinly sliced onions and garlic, salt and pepper and a little olive oil.


Start lining the outside of the dish with a circular row of veggies, alternating them in a visually pleasing pattern. Then fill in the gap in the middle. You should end up with this.



Drizzle the top with a little more olive oil, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, and some thyme.



Cut some parchment paper to fit snugly inside the dish, then bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.


When you can't stand the delicious smell anymore, pull it out of the oven.



Doesn't that look DIVINE?! Carter loved the way it looked...he asked to look at it about 50 times before I actually served it, and he peeked at the leftovers in the fridge again right before he went to bed.

I served it with some whole wheat pasta and bread I baked yesterday. But you can eat it alone, with couscous or rice, or however you think you'd like it.



The true test: Carter ate it. And tonight during bedtime prayers, the first thing he said was, "Heavenly Father, I'm thankful we could have ratatouille today."

Ahhhh, the scrumptious smell of victory.

Achilles' Heel

My Achilles' Heel? Dinner rolls. Specifically Rhodes dinner rolls. I know, I know--they make the dough for you and even shape it into little balls! How can that possibly go wrong?? I promise you, it can.

A couple of years ago, in a fond attempt to replicate my mom's "Monkey Bread," I loaded too many rolls into a bundt pan, and by the time they had risen, they were overflowing the pan and rolling down the sides. I decided to cook them anyway. Afterwards, Randy gently suggested that maybe I shouldn't try Monkey Bread anymore unless my mom was standing right next to me.

Today's attempt at dinner rolls turned out like this:

I know what you're thinking, but NO. This is NOT a panful of buttocks. After I bake them, my family will be eating these rolls with their chicken soup tonight. But, dear reader, I would recommend NOT putting your dinner rolls into a black non-stick pan and setting them on the porch in the sun so they will "rise a little faster"--unless, like my family, you want to eat buttocks for dinner.

Food, Glorious Food

I love good food, and much to my family's dismay this includes lots of vegetables. Anything that isn't corn, peas, or potatoes is considered "exotic" (Randy's term) and is rejected outright--although with time I've convinced the kids that artichokes (artichokes?! yes, artichokes) are not only fun to eat but yummy as well.

Every once in a while, usually around the end of winter, I get really strong cravings for lots and lots of vegetables. So a few days ago, I went to the store and bought a bunch of vegetables for dinner. I decided to sautee them in olive oil with salt and pepper to accompany the grilled teriyaki chicken and rice. A sort of deconstructed stir-fry, if you will.



Isn't that pretty?

Randy worked late that night and my stepkids were at their other house, so it was just Carter and me for dinner. Carter ate like a trooper! I was so surprised! He ate most of the veggies, except for the squash. We have a rule in our house that you have to take at least one bite of everything, and so he agreed to eat one piece of squash.

He took the bite, chewed carefully and thoughtfully, then looked at me and said calmly, "Mom, I hate squash."

OK, I'll give that one to him. Squash is definitely an acquired taste. I was just grateful that he ate! Maybe there's hope that when it comes to vegetables, he will take after me rather than his father...

Lindsay, this one's for you.

My friend Lindsay posted this recipe on her blog yesterday, and I swear to you all that I have been daydreaming about these things ever since. So today, on the way home from school, I stopped at the store and bought the stuff to make them. I made them BEFORE dinner (big mistake) which explains the gaps on the cookie sheet. Carter liked them, too.



Line up pretzels on a cookie sheet, then place Rolos on top. Stick them in a 250 degree oven for 2-5 minutes. With broken pieces of pretzel, mush down the Rolo into the gaps in the pretzels and leave the pretzel piece on top. Drizzle with white chocolate (I just melted white chocolate chips) and let harden. DIVINE!!!!

Thanks, Linds!

It just isn't Christmas without...

This is what I did today. I made dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies. The bad news: we are so sick of Christmas treats. This is the pile as of today, and it's still growing.



And that doesn't even count the two gallon-size plastic bags full of Christmas Mix in my pantry.

We will be travelling to spend Christmas with Randy's family, but it just doesn't seem like Christmas unless you make cookies. So I took one for the team. (Actually, I enjoyed it. So did Carter.) And we'll just pack them up and take them with us to Idaho and hope everyone else eats all the stuff we shouldn't be eating!

Tomorrow: Pies, laundry, and hopefully a couple of phone interviews. (Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. I HATE THEM!)