I'm Baaaaack!

It's been a while. I totally apologize for the blog neglect, which I will attribute to a combination of being busy with life and perhaps more than a little addicted to facebook. I'm back, and will try to keep updating this more regularly from now on. You're welcome.

So...I was quite excited this spring to start my first garden. Early on, I had big aspirations of planting an outdoor garden in the backyard. Maybe next year. However, I did manage to get a patio garden up and running. It includes various varieties of peppers, lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, parsley, sugar snap peas, and a mysterious herb (see "Name That Herb!" below. I was given a few varieties of herbs to plant--a generous gift, yes, but the herbs came to me in unmarked containers. I sniffed them, tried to guess the variety, and even trolled Google in search of an answer, and still have no idea what the #$*& it is. Any advice would be much appreciated!).

The photo at the top shows off my proud first dish made from veggies I harvested from my garden. I made it for the 4th of July. Here is the recipe...

Barbeque Chicken Pasta Salad with Lime (12 servings)
1 lb. spiral pasta
2 c. frozen peas
1 c. frozen corn kernals
1 store rotisserie chicken, shred the meat
1 1/2 c. BBQ sauce
1 t. hot sauce
2 T. lime juice
1/2 c. sour cream
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
4 tomatillos, chopped (instead, I used regular tomatoes FROM MY GARDEN!!!) :)
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
1) Cook pasta, and during final 2 minutes, add peas and corn and stir it all together.
2) Drain pasta mixture and rinse with cool water
3) In large bowl, whish together the BBQ sauce, hot sauce, and lime juice. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
4) In second large bowl, combine the sour cream, pasta and vegetable mixture, celery, red onion, carrot, and tomatillos (or tomatoes). Toss well to coat. Fold in the chicken and cilantro, mixing until just combined. Season with S & P as needed.