Rainbow Zucchini 'Pasta' Salad

Believe it or not, but I don't only eat sweets.  It might be hard to tell from all the sweet things I post here.  But, in fact, I really do love eating good, healthy food.  It would be a shame to let all the beautiful, colorful vegetables at the farmers' market (and in my garden!) go without notice.   This salad is a brilliant way to pack in a ton of colorful, fresh veggies -- all without heating up the house with any cooking.  There is no real 'pasta' in this recipe -- the 'pasta' is actually thin slices of the raw zucchini and cucumber.  It's great as a side salad, or it can be a more substantial dish with the addition of walnuts and Mozzarella.  Delicious, refreshing, pretty!

Celebrating the Irish

I'm not a big St. Patrick's Day reveler, but I am half Irish and would be happy to celebrate that fact with some dark beer anytime.  With the holiday falling on Thursday during a very busy work week, I had every intention of letting the day pass with a hasty after-work beer toast and a night on the couch.  But that morning as I cleared my in-box I saw a recipe that caused me to pause.  Somewhere, somehow I ended up on Martha Stewart's daily Every Day Food listserve, which diligently sends me a dinner recipe every morning.  I often delete without opening, but am also occasionally interested and inspired by the recipes that come through, which is why I have not unsubsribed.  This particular morning's recipe was for Irish Beef Hand Pies.  Although this did not initially sound appealing to me at all, I returned to the deleted recipe as I remembered the Hand Pie's relative -- the Cornish Pasty.  Traditionally a buttery (or lard-y), flaky crust enveloping steamy roast meat, potatoes and other veggies, the perfect size to hold in your hand.