Tournament Time

It's been a while since my last update, and the picture above has nothing to do with the following story (the recipe is below), I've been busy studying for my first cardiology test that I took Friday. It is definitely nice to have it out of the way, now I can focus on March Madness. This is one of my favorite, if not my favorite time in the sports year. There is something about the tournament that I just love. I think it's the nostalgia of it for me, plus filling out a bracket and gambling doesn't hurt either(I think my brother, sister and I were all raised to be gamblers). When I was in middle school and high school my parents didn't ever really let me miss school. I only missed one day in middle school, and it was my 8th grade year and I kind of faked being sick just to see what it would be like to miss a day of school. Then in high school, my brother got perfect attendance, so my parents basically made me get it. Senior skip day, I was there, bomb threat, I was there, if I was sick, get through half the day so it counts as a full day. Yeah it was kind of ridiculous. Anyway, every year since my brother got his license (so he could pick me up), I think my 8th grade year, on the first Thursday of the tournament my mom would write us each a note for a made up doctor's appointment so we could get out of school to watch the entire days worth of basketball. It always came with a feast of pizza, wings, pepperoni rolls and all kinds of good other tasty treats. So now, every time the tournament comes around I think back on those days, on how great it was to tell my friends I was getting out of class to watch the games, I might of been jealous of all the days of school they missed, but they were certainly jealous on that first day of the tournament when I got to leave. I'm still going strong, since my 8th grade year I haven't missed any of the opening tournament Thursday games. This year was the hardest being that I had a cardiology test the next day, but I held strong. As for my bracket, at the time of this writing it's already going to hell, I made some pretty ridiculous picks, but I think if my final two teams (Maryland and West Virginia) hold up I will have a pretty good shot at winning it. As for my meal this Thursday it was a chicken parm sandwich with sautéed spinach and garlic on with, with a side of fries and mezze penne. Sorry, no pictures, but it sure was amazing.

Before I end this post I will leave you with a recipe that really has nothing to do with the tournament or brackets, but I made it about a week ago and it came out pretty good. It was orzo with spinach, onions chicken and bacon. It wasn't perfect, I wanted it to be more garlicky and not so lemony, so next time I make it with a little more garlic and not so much lemon juice, and for you non meat eaters it would be just as good without the chicken and bacon and maybe adding some mushrooms and eggplant. Anyway here is the recipe as I made it, oh yeah and go Maryland and West Virginia!

Orzo Fresca

serves 1

1 chicken breast

3 slices of thick cut bacon

1 sweet onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, diced

2-3 handfuls of fresh baby spinach, or a package of frozen spinach

2-3 tbs olive oil

juice of 1/2 of a lemon

1/4 c starchy cooking liquid from the orzo

a pinch of red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F, and place the bacon and chicken on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. Be sure to season the chicken with salt and pepper and also place it in a position so the bacon grease will run under it and cook with it.

Heat the oil in a frying pan to medium heat. Add the onion and cook until starting to brown and carmelize.

As the onions are caramelizing, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the orzo to just before al dente. Be sure to set aside the 1/4 cup of starchy water from the boiling orzo.

When the orzo is done, drain and add to the onions.

Next add the spinach, garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute so the spinach cooks and the garlic becomes fragrant, a couple of minutes.

Chop the bacon and chicken into bite size pieces and add to the frying pan.

Finally add the lemon juice, and water mix everything together and check to see if the seasoning is right.

Eat well, Live well