Sunny days, takin' the clouds away. . .

. . . take me back to where the air is sweet; can you tell me how to get, how to get to porky tastiness!

Seriously, seventy-nine degrees, sunny, beautiful weather, with a strong southern breeze (think Chicago style breeze, just several hours south of there) and far too much espresso (like four shots too much). Only thing better would have been biking to the cathedral of coffee goodness today, but I had to drive the old man to his daily "I shouldn't have smoked for 58 years" appointment.

With that said, the first day of Purdue's spring break fills me with a warm funny feeling. I'm 99% sure it isn't a heart attack, but you never know with how much espresso I drink. Well before I fall dead at the keyboard, I'll give you today's suggestion for the piggy goodness that is my experiment in pulled pork.

Warm Pulled Pork Pasta

Tools:

Large pot

Bowl able to hold everything

Cutting Board

Knife

Strainer

Large mixing spoon

Ingredients:

1 cup of pulled pork

2 cups dried rotini pasta (I love the wheat pasta and it is REALLY good for you)

1/3rd cup dried lentils

Water for the large pot

Green bell pepper (diced finely)

1 bunch of green onions, greens and whites diced finely

1 cup of diced tomatoes (either roma or cherry tomatoes cut in half)

1 small can drained black olives, diced and drained

1/2 cup of good olive oil

1/3 cup of red wine vinegar

2 tbsp parsley flakes

1 tbsp oregano flakes

dash of garlic powder

dash of black pepper

1 tsp red pepper flakes (cause you gotta have a slight bite)

Ok, as you can guess, this is another one of my wonderful one bowl recipes that I tend to be proud of. In the large pot, add water and lentils and bring it to a boil. Wait ten to thirteen minutes and then add the rotini to the water (I like rotini's shape for holding onto the dressing that we are going to make for this warm pasta salad) Cook until the pasta is just about done, and then drain the pasta and lentils in the strainer in the sink.

While all of this is cooking, chop up any veggies that need to be chopped, adding them into the big bowl. Take all the ingredients left on the list and mix them well in the large bowl. Once the pasta and lentils are drained, add it directly into the large mixing bowl while still warm. Mix it all together and you have a TASTY pasta salad dinner. Enjoy!

With that, I'm off to soak up some more sunshine before the sun sets. Until next time!

Bien Camino!