Fun With Carbs

If you’re like me, you’ve been following the proliferation of bacon-flavored products with equal parts glee and horror. (Mostly glee.)

There’s bacon mayonnaise. Bacon salt. Bacon chocolate bars. Bacon cupcakes. And in Boston, event organizers even dreamed up a Bacon and Beer Festival, held last month.

Now, devotees of the salty, greasy breakfast staple have another reason to celebrate. Torani has added a bacon flavor to its line of beverage syrups. Which means that now, you can literally have your bacon and drink it, too. Bacon lattes, anyone?

Too bad Starbucks doesn’t carry this brand of syrup. Can you imagine if this was an option for the new “However You Want It” Frappuccino items? Bacon syrup, chocolate sauce and sprinkles of bacon bits… (Local coffee shops, if you’re reading, I want credit for this concoction.)

I’ve been hooked on falafel ever since I had my first taste of the the Middle Eastern staple about four years ago. Made from ground chickpeas and spices, falafel is crispy, savory and downright addictive. It’s one of my favorite items on the menu at Tapas, which was always our go-to takeout place at courant.com.

A while back, I bought a box of Casbah brand falafel mix in the natural-foods section of Stop n’ Shop. I figured it was worth a try. My first attempt at homemade falafel was a mess.  I’m not sure if it was because I had no food processor in which to blend the chickpeas – or because I forgot the baking soda, causing the lumps to fall apart in the deep fryer. Moving on…

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So okay, we eat at a lot of restaurants. But what you might not know – basically because I’m terrible at photographing and articulating recipes – is that we cook more than we go out. And after a week of vacation dining, plus a bout of sickness, I was ready to get back into the kitchen last night.

I’d planned panko-crusted cod with grilled asparagus and some starch, maybe brown rice. But then I saw the potatoes on my counter and they were looking a little…spiky. I determined that they weren’t rotten, but I figured I’d better use them.

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A little work of art...

We returned home last night from a blissful week in the Turks & Caicos Islands, where we did what you’re supposed to do on vacation – eat and drink way too much. (Post forthcoming. It involves lots of conch and lots of rum.)

We were also fortunate enough to come home to unseasonably warm weather – 72 degrees at Logan Airport yesterday. Today was equally gorgeous. So after braving the grocery store, I put together a salad that reflected what’s hopefully going to be a beautiful New England spring.

Baby Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese and Blood Orange Vinaigrette

(As with most of my cooking, I didn’t really use a recipe for this one.  This is entirely estimated. So adapt it to your specifications…)

• 2 cups baby spinach
• 3 or 4 large fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 1/2- 2 oz. crumbled honey-flavored goat cheese (I find this to be sweeter and creamier than other versions)
• 1 tbsp. sliced or slivered almonds
• 1 twist cracked black pepper
• Fresh blood orange vinaigrette (juice of one fresh blood orange, 2 tsp. olive oil, 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar. I like the dressing to be mostly juice – feel free to adapt to your own taste.)

Top spinach with fruit, cheese, nuts and pepper, then toss with vinaigrette.

Notes:

Blood oranges are only in season winter through spring. BOO. So if you don’t see them in stores in the next month or two, that’s why. I haven’t found a concentrate that I like, to be honest. When I can’t get them, I’ll make a pomegranate vinaigrette with POM juice, balsamic vinegar and a touch of olive oil.

I found the honey-flavored goat cheese at Highland Park Market in Suffield, but I’ve also seen something similar at Trader Joe’s.

If you don’t like goat cheese, like a certain spouse of mine, I’m sure this would be equally good with another strong cheese, like Gorgonzola.

enjoy!