Summer Spaghetti Salad

The dog days aren’t overrrrrr, the dog days aren’t done. The horses ain’t even coming, so you don’t have to run!

Do you see what I did there? I changed the lyrics because we’re still in the dog days. The dog days of summer. They’re not over yet. And I’m betting Florence and her Machine want to paper cut my shins about now.

BUT FIRST:

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your unbelievable support and words of encouragement about my bebe(s) news last week. I couldn’t even keep my hormonal tears from ripping up my face as I read your amazing comments. I wish I could give you all a crown. Or a piece of cake. But that would get pretty expensive and I have some MAJ baby gear to buy.

Speaking of, mawns of twins, if you have any insight as to what I can get away with having just ONE of, pray the freak tell.

So THIS. This is a pasta salad of sorts, but it uses long grain pasta. Which I find rather sassy.

Over the 4th of July holiday weekend, my in-laws hosted their annual pool party. We had friends over. We swam for hours. I got sooo buzzed on my cucumber water. (that was our joke the whole time. isn’t it hilarious? “bev, slow down on that cucumber water. you’re starting to slur!” never mind.) The table was overflowing with burgers, hotdogs, salads, dips, chips, sides, everything. Well, of course I’m obsessed with my little babycenter app that alerts me, “don’t do this! you can do that! stay away from this! enjoy that! say hi to frank!”

And I’m like, “You got it, app! But who’s Frank?”

Truth is, noooooooooothing has remotely appealed to me for a few months. Meat is basically out the window. I’m sprinkling protein powder on my ice cream, for crying out loud.

But when I saw a version of this pasta salad on the table, I almost cried. It looked.so.good. Carbs, fresh veggies, buckets of lemon juice, cheese chunks? HA-DONE.

OH. A word on the cheese chunks. Oh you don’t want me to call them cheese chunks? Sorry about that. In the photo above I was chunking up some parmesan cheese. Then I remembered to check to see if it’s pasteurized or not. Um, it says “CULTURED milk.” So, I got online to look up what cultured is blah blah blah. Got on the cheese brand’s (Bel Giososoissosis) website to see what I could find, and nothing. So, I didn’t use this cheese in the salad. But you should! If you’re not knocked up. I chunked up some string cheese and used it in the final dish and cartoon birds swooped in and braided my hair.

If you can, find thin spaghetti. My little store was out this particular day, so I bought reg spagh (oh that rhymed).

Go heavy on the lemon dressing. That zing paired with all the fresh peppers, tomatoes, cucumber and celery will give you a serious promise of a new day.

And go heavy on the cheese chunks (doh!) because it’s the only way in this life.

So what DOES “cultured” mean? Besides my suave hair.

Spaghetti Summer Salad:

What it took for 4:

* 2 small cucumbers, sliced and halved
* 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
* 1 green bell pepper, diced
* 2 stalks celery, diced
* 2 cups chopped kale
* 1/2 cup diced parmesan cheese (or mozzarella)
* 4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil (or more if needed!)
* juice of one lemon
* 1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley
* 1 pound thin spaghetti
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the kale and cook for 20 seconds. Using a large slotted spoon, transfer the kale to an ice bath. Shock the kale to stop the cooking. Drain the water.

Add the pasta to the pot of boiling water and boil until al dente. Drain and rinse under cool water.

Toss the chopped veggies in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper.

Add the cooled spaghetti and cheese chunks to the veggies. Pour the dressing over the the pasta; sprinkle with parsley. Give it all a goooood toss. Taste it. Need anything? More lemon? Another pinch of salt?

*you could also add scallions and diced carrots if you want! The sky and your stomach is the limit!

Serve serve serve!

I’m going to crawl to the bottom of this bowl and never come out.