Today was just a day that I needed Mac & Cheese. And not just any Mac & Cheese, I went for this Mushroom Spinach and Boursin Baked Mac & Cheese. Hearty, garlicky, cheesy, delicious. Now I am going to fall into a food coma on the sofa in front of a hockey game. Because that is about all the effort that I have left. Ahhh, comfort food!
This pasta salad is my standard, as far as pasta salads go. It’s very simple to put together and is pretty customizable. While I always add red onion, bell pepper, corn, pickles and peas, other optional items include lives, salami, cheese (usually sharp cheddar) and cherry tomatoes. If you’re vegetarian, leave out the salami and ham. If you are cheese-adverse, leave out the cheddar. If you don’t like cheddar, swap it out for gouda or harvarti or monterey jack. The recipe also works really well with gluten free pasta, in case you want or need to go down that route. Great for summer picnics!
Last week, I was talking about “early summer” fruits and veggies, so here I made something with some of my favorites: asparagus, peas and snow peas. Added a light pesto sauce (my fallback when I don’t know what else to make), and voila! A great little lunch or dinner and a really simple, straight forward recipe. What are you making with those fresh fruits and veggies out there?
This is perhaps the epitome of comfort food for me : Kasespätzle! I guess you could consider it Southern German “Mac & Cheese”, except with homemade pasta, Swiss cheese instead of cheddar and onions. It’s the first and last thing that I eat when I go home to Germany, and while I don’t make it all that often at home (mainly because the carbs and cheese add up to lots of calories!), it is the thing that I crave when I need a foodie “hug”. It’s delicious, it’s comforting and it instantly puts a smile on my face.
I’m going to start out by saying that you certainly don’t need to make this recipe with squid ink pasta. I just happen to have some black spaghetti, so my Pasta Puttanesca (with Olives, capers, anchovies and lots of lots of garlic) ended up with that instead of regular. Turns out, tastes the same regardless of color. 🙂