For Mom: Pasta Salad in English

Ingredients for Salad
1 pound corkscrew or other short pasta
2 1/4 cups carrots, thinly sliced
2 cups broccoli, small flowerets
2 each sweet bell peppers red or green, cut into thin strips
1 1/2cup celery, thinly sliced
1 each onion red, finely chopped

Ingredients for Dressing
1 cup plain, non-fat yogurt
1/2 cup reduced-calorie mayonnaise
1/4 cup fresh parsley , chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried dill weed

Directions
1) Cook pasta al dente, but do not add salt. About 3 minutes before pasta is done, add carrots and broccoli to pot. Drain mixture, rinse under cold water, and drain again.

2) In a large bowl, combine bell peppers, celery and onion. Add pasta mixture; toss gently.

3) To prepare dressing, in a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, mayonnaise, parsley, lemon juice and dillweed.

4) Pour half of dressing over pasta mixture; toss well. Cover and chill salad for at least 1 hour; chill remaining dressing separately.

5) Serve salad with reserved dressing.

PS This photo is also not this salad
PPS I recommend making about half again as much dressing as in the recipe, but YMMV

Would you like some celery juice?

Some of my former students Yuka, Yumie and Kayoko got me and Shoichi some gift cards as a wedding present. We had been wanting to get a new vacuum cleaner because the one we have now sucks (or rather doesn't suck ha ha ha!), so we headed over to Midori Denka to pick one out with the gift cards.

We looked at the various vacuums they had and we ended up getting a very nice green one, but more importantly we got: A JUICER!!!!!

Let me just say that ever since I was a little kid and I first became aware of the existence of juicers, I have wanted one. They're so cool. Put in any fruit or vegetable, push down, whirrrrrrrrrrr, and Blammo!: out comes juice. Pretty much the awesomest thing ever, right? It is to me anyway.

So, I've been experimenting with the juicer and seeing what kinds of juice I can make. My first experiment was grape juice. Kayoko, Yumie and Yuka brought over some really nice grapes with them when they came to visit, but we didn't get to eat them, so....into the juicer they went! The grape juice was very yummy, but a little too ordinary, so I decided to put in what other vegetables and fruits I had lying around. And that is how grape-carrot-celery juice was born. I quite liked it but Sho-chan thought it was gross. (He doesn't really like celery to start with though.)

I also made grapefruit-carrot juice and plain ruby-red grapefruit juice both of which were FANTASTIC.

However, I just want to warn everyone as a Public Service Announcement; NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER try to juice an onion. I know that no one other than me would actually be stupid enough try this, but on the off chance that there are equally crazy people out there, let me just repeat: NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER juice an onion. For starters it will make you cry just like cutting onions will, only worse. For seconds it smells like, well..., like onion juice. And for thirds if you are extremely extremely brave or stupid like me, and actually try to drink a sip of it, you will most likely die right on the spot. Even if you don't die, your mouth will taste like onion for about 10 hours, no matter how much other juice you drink, or how many times you brush your teeth. For the last time: NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER try to juice an onion.

Thank you and goog niter.

PS Thank you very much Yumie, Yuka and Kayoko for the juicer and the vaccuum, please come over again and I will make you some fresh juice. (No onion, I promise!)

For Yumie: Yummy Pasta Salad

Yumie-
Here is that pasta salad recipe you asked for.


サラダの材料
パスタ　ー450gm
人参　(薄切り)　ー2.25 cups
ブロコリ　ー2 cups
パプリか（黄色、赤）1個ずつ
セロリ (薄切り)　ー1.5 cups
レッドオニオン　（小さくきざんで） ー1個

ドレシングの材料
無糖無脂肪ヨーグルト　ー1cup
低脂肪マヨネーズ　ー1/2cup
パセリ（小さくきざんで）ー1/4 cup
レモンジュース ー大さじx２
ディルウィード　ー小さじx2

作り方
１　最初にドレシングの材料を全部混ぜ合わせて、冷蔵庫に入れて、冷やしておく。
２　パスタをゆでて、出来上がる三分程前に、人参とブロコリを加えて、一緒にゆでる。
３　アルデンテになったら、パスタの水をきって、冷水をかけて、も一回水切りをする。
４　パスタサラダと野菜を混ぜ合わせて、ドレシングの半分をかける。
５　サラダとドレシングを冷蔵庫に入れて、一時間ぐらい冷やしておく。

I hope you like it! Also if anyone wants the English recipe, let me know!
Goog afternooner!