Happy St. Patty's Day! Let's Eat Some Pasta...

Okay, so can we all just agree that corned beef and cabbage is gross? Great. 

Though I have a lot of Irish heritage, I've never been particularly drawn to Irish food. Except Guinness. I have always been drawn to Italian food, though, regardless of the situation. 

After Spring Break, I felt I had taken far too long an absence from this project, so I wanted to jump right back in. Moosewood has an extensive block of antipasto recipes, which sounded perfect for me because they require just a couple of ingredients and come together quickly. I also made some pasta with fresh mozzarella and one of those "bake at home" bread loaves. 

The antipasto is meant to be served as a combo meal (much like Moosewood's mezza) that is light, but flavorful and delicious. I chose to make swiss chard, roasted green beans, and bell peppers. All of the dishes require marinating in red wine vinegar and lots of garlic, but are still pretty fast dishes. I think my favorite was the bell peppers, which were sautéed in olive oil with garlic and spices. They went so well with the pasta and cheese! 

I have no memory of ever eating swiss chard, but it's really yummy! For Moosewood's recipe, you basically just wilt the chard as you would for spinach. It doesn't exactly wilt in the same way, but it's the same general idea. I bought Rainbow Chard, which when combined with the bell peppers, made a beautiful and colorful spread. 

The green beans were not really my favorite, but that might've been because green beans are out of season. They were roasted, which made them kinda dry and crunchy, rather than the crispness you get from a fresh green bean. You cook them with onion and garlic, which was a yummy combo, but still not as good as the peppers and chard. 

Depressingly, we seem to be getting yet ANOTHER blizzard. I'm not quite sure what that means for my schedule tomorrow, but I'm assuming school will be on and it'll be back into the swing of things in the morning. It's kind of terrifying to think that there's only about 6 more weeks of this semester. I did absolutely zero school work over break, so I should probably catch up tonight (not happening). But being back in my apartment is definitely helping me get back into the right mindset and be ready to completely focus and succeed (and cook!) in my last weeks as an undergraduate.