Who said salads are boring? This is a fancy, yet refreshing summer salad utilizing seasonal ingredients, spiced up with a little bit of Truffle Oil, Blue Cheese and crispy Prosciutto. It sounds complicated but it’s fairly easy to make.
Simple Whole Wheat Pasta with Peas and Pancetta
Simple, quick pasta dishes are one of my favorite meals to make. This is one of my “go-to” meals since I usually have all of these ingredients in my kitchen. If you’re Vegetarian, feel free to substitute the pancetta for a vegetable. Sometimes I put in some sliced mushrooms or asparagus instead of pancetta. If you’ll notice in the recipe, I don’t drain the pancetta on paper towels. I feel there’s so much flavor in all the drippings, so why drain?? I cut the shallots into rings and garlic into slivers because I kind of like seeing garlic and onion (err, shallot…) chunks in my pasta dishes. If you don’t, feel free to mince them.
German Radler – A Refreshing Summer Drink Made with Beer and Soda
My husband is from Germany and we visit his family a lot, so I’ve gotten to love German cuisine and of course, the beer! Germans love mixing their drinks, especially fruit juice with club soda, or Coke with orange soda.
“Radler” is a popular German drink that dates back to either 1922 or 1900 in Bavaria, the region he grew up in. The 1922 legend goes….an owner of a bar, short on his supply of beer, became threatened by a group of cyclists because they were thirsty from their travels. In distress, the bar owner mixed whatever beer he had with lemonade. Then Radler was born! Radler also means ‘cyclist’ in German. Through the years, the recipe has added Sprite or 7-Up instead of lemonade. I prefer soda because the bubbles make it more refreshing, especially in the summer. As for the beer, you can use Pilsner, or a Lager which is traditional. I’m also going local by using nearby Sixpoint Brewery’s Crisp Lager that’s now available for the first time in cans.
Whenever I’m on a Lufthansa flight heading to Germany, I order a Radler. Try it out sometime. The Germans will be impressed! Prost!
1 can of Sprite, 7-Up or lemon-lime soda
1 can of Lager Beer
Blend equal amounts of both ingredients in a glass.