The kitch is back

Where the magic will happen for the next 4 months

Hola from the beautiful coastal city of Alicante. It is currently 1:16 pm and Tommy is still passed out in my bed after a very strenuous breakfast. I'm finally over the worst of the jetlag and actually managed to throw together something decent, and worth recreating, for dinner last night. Let me say here that the produce in Alicante is truly great. And inexpensive. You could buy your weight in platanos for around 10 Euro. And don't even get me started on Kinder Eggs. I am all about those little dudes. In short, Spain is the shit.

Anyway, Tommy wanted to eat dinner at my place since the kitchen in his apartment is about the size of my bathroom at home (and it isn't a very spacious bathroom) so we hit up Corte de Ingles, one of the huge supermarkets near us, and picked up some seriously tasty produce for a kitchen sink pasta salad.

Here's the great thing about this pasta salad: it's totally malleable and there are about 100 different ways to cheat and make it easier. You can put anything you want in there and for seasoning, just use some bottled Italian dressing. Since we didn't have any of that, I just went with the random spices (tarragon, cinnamon and powdered garlic to name a few) that were in our apartment to begin with. If you're cooking for a crowd, make the entire box of penne but if not just 2 or so cups will be enough for about 3 people.

Ingredients:
2 cups plus some penne pasta, cooked according to directions and cooled
1/4 cucumber, chopped
1/2 yellow or red pepper, chopped

1 small tomato, chopped
1 c. roasted chicken, cubed
1/2 c. cheese (manchego, mozzarella, cheddar)
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 tsp. chopped dried oregano
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder (or to taste if you don't like garlic so much)
1/8 tsp. sea salt

Directions:

1. Place cooled penne in a large mixing bowl. Add cheese, chicken and vegetables and fold to combine.
2. Drizzle the olive oil over the top of the pasta mixture and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle the spices one at a time, stirring after each addition to incorporate thoroughly. Serve at room temperature.

This will keep in the fridge, covered, for a few days before the cheese and vegetables start to go soggy.

Tommy enjoying his delicious pasta salad made by the best girlfriend of the 21st century.