Okay, so the beautiful thing about having a brand new blog is that you really have nothing to loose.  Hypothetically speaking, a person with a new blog could throw caution to the wind, could post or not post, she could check the new blog obsessively to see if anyone has read her first post - or not.  She could cook naked - or not.  And she could even enter a food blog competition *gasp* like she actually knows what she is doing!  Perhaps cooking naked would be easier?

Lets back up a little… It all started a couple of weeks ago when I was reading about food photography on Rasa Malaysia’s blog (www.rasamalaysia.com)  and in her Q&A about photography she mentioned Donna Hay and the clean, beautiful, simple food photography featured in her cookbooks, magazines and web site.  Huh, Donna who?  I’m a “whose that?” kinda girl so I searched further and I’m glad I did.  Donna Hay is sort of the Aussie version of Martha (geez, I’m sure that statement will inspire both nods in agreement and spit wads in disgust), and she is my new favorite cooking and lifestyle guru.  Such talent.  (Hello Donna, so nice to meet you, where have you been all my culinary life?)  Then I discovered (last week) this little food competition in her honor -  Hay Hay it’s Donna Day - and I knew I had to give it a go. 

The hostess (Soma at www.eCurry.com) this month selected Chicken and Roasted Capsicum Pasta, and the photograph (oh I have such photo envy) reminded me very much of my favorite pasta dish at The La Quinta Cliff House called Pasta Borracho (now called Cactus Grill Penne - whatever, it’ll always be borracho in my heart).  A delicious penne pasta with chicken, roasted corn and red bell peppers in a creamy borracho sauce (that’s tequila sauce to you gringos).  Delicioso.

So my challenge was to figure out how to translate this pasta dish with the guidelines provided (not cheesy, not creamy, not sauced, no-no borracho) and then photograph it, post it, e-mail it… oh yeah, and get my blog and running in a couple days (thank God the deadline was moved a week!).  If I had more time I would have attempted to incorporate the tequila into the dressing somehow, but as I was feedin the fam, and I couldn’t very well add a shot without first cooking out the alcohol and I have never done that before - ya know in a dressing… (read: if anyone knows how to do this call me and you’ll be my new best friend). 

So here it goes…  Not So Borracho Pasta

2 chicken breasts with skin on and ribs attached
2 ears of sweet white corn, husks and silks removed
2 red bell peppers
1 large white onion, quartered
3 roma (plum) tomatoes, quartered
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1 pound penne rigate, cooked

Dressing:
Juice from 1 lemon and 1 lime 
An equilvelent measurement of extra virgin olive oil (1:1= lemon/lime:ev olive oil) 
1 clove minced garlic
3 Tbl minced cilantro leaves
1 Tbl cumin
Salt and Pepper

Garnish :
Cotija (mexican cheese)
Cilantro
Pepitas (mexican roasted pumpkin seeds)
Lime wedges

Directions:
Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and cumin, sprinkle with olive oil and place on the grill over medium heat.  Grill until no longer pink in the center, about 15-20 minutes.  Grill corn and red peppers until charred and tender, about 15 minutes (note: I do not peel my peppers after I prepare them - I like the skin and all).  Place the onion and tomatoes in a grill basket and cook until charred and tender.

In the mean time prepare the dressing.  I placed all ingredients in a jar and shook it up - easy style.

Pull the cooked chicken from the bone and discard bone and skin (I think this makes for a tastier and more moist end product).  Shred the chicken, slice the corn off the cob and julienne the peppers, tomatoes and onions.  Toss chicken, grilled veggies and dressing  in a large bowl with the steaming hot pasta and fresh cold spinach.  Top with cotija, pepitas, cilantro and lime.

It was a lighter version of Pasta Borracho and every bit as yummy!  So a big thank you to the facilitator, Bron at http://bronmarshall.com and the hostess, Soma at www.ecurry.com and I look forward to doing more challenges.  It was great fun. 

And don’t worry, as for the borracho, well I can remedy that.