We know that you think that we, being glitzy upright citizens of the shiny kingdom of FoodBloggery, spend our days in all manner of uppercrust hobnobbing, jetsetting, and elbowrubbing followed by luxurious evenings of sumptuous dining on Champagne, Caviar, and Filet Mignon.

But, in our humdrum reality as mere mortals, sometimes a Wednesday is just a Wednesday (or a Thursday or a *gasp* Monday) and we are naught but common folk much like yourselves. As such we are as fond of the basics as anyone: simple salads, easy sides, and one-pot pasta dishes like this one. Read more »

Giada recently had a deliciously different and simple salad on her show that needed only sliced fresh Mushrooms, shaved Parmesan, and a very simple Lemon Juice & Olive Oil dressing. It was so elegant and fresh tasting that we loved it right away, and leaving the Mushrooms raw gave it a lighter than air texture.

Of course it’s us, so we immediately began to think of ways that we could tweak it by adding a little of this or that. Julie right away struck upon the idea of adding Orecchiette pasta, White Beans, and some sweet little Green Peas to build it up a bit and our new favorite summer Pasta Salad was born.

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This is an über-dooper easy dinner salad that’s a fun twist on chef’s salads. The only real trick with this one is that you’ve got to be ready to serve it when the mushrooms are done sautéing, else-wise you’ll serve a warm, cheesy, steaming pile of mushy lettuce and mushrooms, not-so-very-much-good… Read more »