SMART KROGER. STUPID HOT

Last week I mentioned that I wanted to buy orzo pasta and had gone to Walmart to purchase it, only they didn't carry it. Kroger does, so I'd like to ask that everyone STOP shopping at Walmart and START shopping at Kroger to show their support. I was able to purchase four bags of it today for $4 at the Kroger on Stringtown, which will easily carry me through months of orzo feasting, I'm sure. Thank you Columbus, for your patronage of these fine Kroger grocers, and for NOT shopping at the forever-sucky Walmarts. :-P

And if you are interested in the dish I'll be making with my orzo, here is the inspiration dish, from Macaroni Grill:

Here is the recipe for the Orzo with Spinach and Tomato (just for you, Mary and Tanya). The salmon that will go with it is just grilled teryaki salmon.

1 pound spinach, washed, dried, stems removed
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved (I'm going to use sun dried tomatoes because that's what's in MG's)
2 lemons, zested
1 1/2 cups orzo, cooked to al dente
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the bowl
24 basil leaves, torn or thinly sliced (the reviews of the recipe on Food Network said 24 was way too much - many people suggested only 10)
Salt and pepper

Pile spinach leaves in stacks 1 on top of the other. Thinly slice stacks of leaves to make spinach confetti. Pile shredded spinach into the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl. Halve grape or cherry tomatoes with a paring knife and add them to the mixing bowl. Add the zest of 2 lemons to the bowl and save the lemons in the refrigerator to juice for another recipe. Add hot cooked and drained orzo pasta to the mixing bowl. The heat of the pasta will wilt the spinach and warm the tomatoes at the bottom of the bowl and get the juices flowing from veggies. The heat of the pasta will also release the flavor and oils in the lemon zest. Drizzle 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil over the pasta and toss to combine the veggies and orzo. Add basil and salt and pepper and toss to combine. Taste your orzo to adjust seasonings and serve.

And in unrelated news from our shopping trip today...while were at the North Market, Tanya Stevenson (who is about to return to the world of blogging), asked some stranger to take our picture. At the same time, I'd been trying to get either Tanya or Mary to take a bite of this crazy hot salsa that I knew to cause grown men to cry, lose their voice and otherwise choke. They weren't biting. BUT, lo and behold, this man couldn't resist three young women saying, "HEY! Could we get you to try this "Stupid Hot! Salsa over here?" Actually, it might not have been all three of us...just me. I just wanted to see if anyone would do it! And he said, "Oh sure, why not!" So of course, I had to rip out my phone to video it - I just KNEW he was going to barf or something.

Nothing. Well, not nothing. He shed a few tears and had trouble choking out the words, "W O W . That's H O T." But then, he took ANOTHER bite, and THEN, as if it wasn't an insult to my prank already that he wasn't peeing his pants, he asked the owner if he could buy a jar. What a jerk. It's like he took the fun right out of it. Geez - you'd think the owner could have at least paid me or something...or given ME a jar of "not nearly stupid hot, but still really yummy" salsa for driving sales her way. I'd show you the video clips from my phone, but really, they're nothing to look at. Maybe this guy's tastebuds don't work. The "OTHER" man I saw taste this - I THINK that he has a pretty high tolerance for strange and spicy foods. Or maybe he was just being brave because I dared him to taste it too one day and he didn't want to back down from the dare? Who knows. All I know is it sure smells STUPID HOT. All you readers out there, next time you're at the North Market, I dare you - take a bite of the Stupid Hot salsa and let me know what you think. And NO. I have not and will not accept your double dog dare. You might be stupid, but I'm am not. (and...on that note, I think I will disable comments for this post). ;-)