Chopping Blog

A huge thank you to my Esteemed Readers, who complain, occasionally, that I do not write or cook anymore. The truth of the matter is that, after the enormous success of my beignets (http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/BeignetsHistory.htm) I went on a diet and it my cooking hence consists of mainly chopping stuff for salads. I went on a diet from my own cooking! Ouch!

However, because beans are so good for your diet, I cooked my famous Chili, based on this recipe: http://www.greatchilirecipes.net/sahara_chili.html, but I added lots of half-cooked beans and more cans of tomatoes to it. (It came out delicious, but I hat time to make it only a week after my workplace had the chili cook-off, so I didn't win the blue ribbon.)

Moreover, I discovered that there is a trick to the best salads, like, ever: I mix the chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, and onions with the dressing and any crumbled cheese, douse it with some balsamic vinaigrette (http://www.vinaigretterecipe.com/VinaigretteRecipes/BalsamicVinaigrette.htm or Newman's Own) and let it sit together before I top some baby lettuce leaves with it. This way the vegetables that can withstand the vinaigrette for a while absorb all the flavor, and the lettuce doesn't wilt down to a disgusting wet newspaper texture.

My family also loves the Massaged Pasta Salad: use cooked and somewhat cooled pasta with it, al dente, and mix it with halved cherry tomatoes, lotsa olive oil, lemon juice, crumbled feta cheese, and fresh basil leaves. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy, and please comment away with your successes!

And now I'm off to take a constitutional law exam for a job application with the Legislative Counsel Bureau.