the millennial who's good at nothing: pasta

Boston Public Market Trip

January 06, 2016

The Boston Public Market, a market full of local stands of cheese, wine, produce, juice, coffee, sweets, IPAs, and more, in Boston opened in July 30th, 2015. It's the only all-local, indoor, year-round public market like it in the United States according to the market's blog. I visited the St. Lawrence market in Toronto, which bore many similarities to it.

The market is located attached to the Haymarket station so getting there is almost too easy. It is located conveniently close to Fanuel Hall, Boston's North End, the Government Center Garage, and the TD Garden/ North Station.

Sweater: Forever 21

Necklace: Forever 21

Shorts: H&M

Tights: Drugstore

Socks: Aeropostale

Boots: Primark

Jacket: Forever 21

The BPM "Kitchen" offers many cooking, yoga, and more classes to start the year off right.

The Taza Chocolate bar sold Mexican stone-ground organic chocolate products from cacao. Products include chocolate drinks, wheels, and bars. Flavors range from coffee, to cinnamon, dark, and spicy.

Farm stands sold homemade jellies, spreads, pickled veggies, honey, eggs, and produce. Silver Brook Farm is located in Dartmouth, MA.

I got a delicious juice from Mother Juice that has watermelon, cucumber, celery, and ginger. They also sell salads, rice bowls, and energy balls.

Q's nuts sold salty and sweet nuts.

We picked up these "Spiker's shrubs" that are multi-purpose. They can be used as a salad dressing marinade, or in a mixed drink. Flavors like pineapple, ginger, mango, and proved interesting enough for us to give it a try.

The cookbook exchange - take a cookbook, leave a cookbook.

We also took home some organ wheat-based frozen raviolis from Nella pasta! I took home to corn & carmelized onion ravioli to eat at school. My mother and I bought the goat cheese, basil & roasted red pepper raviolis to eat some time this week. Being self-sufficient for my meals at school have given me a new love for frozen pasta. I trust that this frozen meal won't be full of sodium.

Appleton Farms from Ipswich, MA had a map of the local cheese farms in MA! Oh look, there's even one on Martha's Vineyard!

I have a special place in my heart for Asiago.

The BPM even has a place for plant-lovers!

We ate a vietnamese-inspired lunch from Bon Me. It consisted of BBQ pork, carrots, greens, and rice noodles.

Hopper's Alley is an aisle of local IPAs.

Do you have anything like this near you?

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artisan

"THE BEST EVER" - My Favorite Pasta Dish

January 21, 2015

You may or may not be familiar with the new show on Food Network called "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." Each show is focused on a different category, or food, and famous TV chefs such as Ann Burrell, Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, and Michael Symon are surveyed about the best food of that category that they've had. Each chef goes into detail about where the dish is made, and how it's made so that it's the best they've ever had.

image credit

Today, I was eating at my favorite restaurant, the Tuscan Kitchen, and I was eating my favorite dish. Are you ever consuming something - food, music, movies - and you think, "Wow, this is my favorite. If somebody asks me what my favorite "whatever" is, this will be my answer." I always get excited when I have that thought, because I feel like I always have a problem picking favorite things.

So, I decided that Tuscans was my new favorite restaurant. It's an artisan Italian eatery where everything, down to the pasta, is made fresh on site. Italian focaccia, limoncello tiramusu, honey glazed salmon, and fresh gnocchi. Can I just go back already? If you're around, there's two locations: Burlington, MA and Salem, NH.

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So, I figured why not play pretend that I'm a professional chef or foodie. If I had a spot on the "Best Thing I Ever Ate" panel, this is what I would say about my favorite pasta dish: the Tuscan Kitchen Cappellacci Salad.

"It's like my two favorite things combined - desert and pizza. Cinnamon butternut squash stuffed in a handmade cappellacci. It's the perfect chewy consistency. It's sweet and savory. It's heavenly.

These little pillows of pasta can be served as a dish itself or on a salad. The salad over spring green includes: Pan Seared Butternut Squash Cappellacci, Caramelized Seasonal Fruit, Spiced Walnuts, Goat Cheese over mixed greens. I like the salad as a healthier option."

If I was a famous foodie, that's what I'd say about the dish, plus the behind-the-scenes shots in the restaurant kitchen (Guy Fieri style). Here's what my family and I ate at the restaurant:

My mother and I split the cappellacci salad for an appetizer.

I got a roasted rosemary half chicken with butternut squash, and spinach with walnuts and pancetta.

My mother got cod over a risotto and a walnut misto.

My dad went hard, not home. He a pizza with beef meatballs, roasted chicken, ricotta cheese, and onions.

What's the best dish you've ever eaten?

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dollar store diva

LIFESTYLE: MEDITERRANEAN ORZO PASTA SALAD

September 20, 2014

I love salad and I love pasta... My life is constant love triangle between the two loves. My mind wants me to eats carbs all day every day, but my thighs want me to eat salad forever. However, I think I may have found a compromise to keep both sides happy. For my birthday party, I concocted a pasta salad as neutral as Switzerland.

I skimmed pinterest and found a post something along the lines of "19 pasta salads to try this summer." Some looked deliciously decadent, some were asian-infused, however I always like to stick to my Mediterranean styles. I found one that was a "lemony-orzo" salad with feta and cucumber, and another one with tomatoes and broccoli. I did a mash-up of both!

Mediterranean Orzo Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 full box of orzo (1-1/2 cups)
3 tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Juice and zest of one full lemon
Parsley to taste
1 cup of broccoli
Garlic salt to taste
1-1 and a 1/2 cups of feta cheese (depends on how Greek you are!)
1 whole cucumber, sliced
2 roma tomatoes, diced

Look at how many vitamins and minerals you're getting! These dark veggies are choc-full of 'em and green vegetables mean fiber. This picture above is like food porn to me. Eating pasta doesn't always have to be with a thick, creamy alfredo or garlic-wine sauce; it can be light and filling as well.

The reason I think this salad is a good mix is that it has the attributes of a salad and a pasta dish, but not too much of each. The orzo is a pasta, but it's a small pasta. The sauce is olive oil and lemon juice, it's refreshing. The veggies and cheese give it some hearty texture. It's a square meal!

First, I would cook the Orzo according to directions on the box. Then, I would get a pot of steaming water and steam the broccoli until the color is darker. You can skip that part, but I prefer steamer over raw broccoli. Then, you can chop up your veggies. Make sure your broccoli isn't overcooking.

Whenever your broccoli is soft and your pasta is all cooked, drain them both. You can keep the broccoli with the other chopped veggies, and put the orzo in the refrigerator to let it cool. It's very important to let the orzo cool so that the feta doesn't melt away!

In a bowl, mix the oil and lemon juice. You can use a cheese grater to zest the lemon by grating the skin. Mix that in, too!

When the orzo is cooled, mix in the veggies, feta, and dressing (oil and lemon).

There you have it! This salad was a huge hit at my party might I add. I had a few people ask me for this recipe. Now, I can just tell them to look on my blog.