Tasty Bi-lingualism

If I fudge my abilities some, I may be tri-lingual. I can speak a good amount of Spanish, but only in the present tense and with a combination of dialects. And so, I am just going to declare expertise in two languages: English and Pittsburghese. Yep...the latter is a full-blown language.

Surprising myself, I watched the football game last Saturday between Pittsburgh and Baltimore and what a thriller. Given that I feel P-burgh will go on to the Super Bowl (I know...it is dreadful that they playoff against the Jets...I like them, too!), I decided to brush up on my Pittsburgh lingo and thought, if a Steelers fan, you'd like to as well.

Here is a fun link you can use for a do-at-home study guide and it's a lot cheaper than the Rosetta Stone course. No kidding...this is a language well worth acquiring! The link has some great quickies: easy-to-use conversational phrases, free translator...your language to Pittsburghese, instantly! And, even calisthentics to get you warmed up, "Yinz gotta be loose to rilly speak Pittsburghese."

Yizzel be a Yinzer in no time! Check it out:
http://www.pittsburghese.com/

(Now, don't get me wrong, with New York as my second city, I am quite a Jets fan, too, and if they win, I will still be happy. Fine tuning my New Yawk-ese will be the next step. Hey...does that mean I am nearly quad-lingual? And, no, I am not declaring "Southern" as one of my languages. Apparently, I am fooling no one about my background. Soon as I open my mouth I get, "You aren't from here are you?"...even after 25 years. Oh well.)

During my Pittsburgh days, my mom used to make a lot of Stouffer's Mac and Cheese. Thinking about that comfort food...the color is right. Could qualify as a perfect game day dish. However, in the interest of health, I am sharing a variation of Bob Harper's (The Biggest Loser) fave Mac recipe. It is cheese-less, but you can add cheese to your heart's desire if your cholesterol can handle it. I was amazed by how flavorful and comforting this dish tasted. And, how easy it is to make. The nutritional yeast may be exotic for some of you, but others have asked for recipes using it. Omit it if you decide to go with some cheese. I also added in some black olives for true "Stillers kellers" (Steelers colors!) Go Stillers!!!

Bob Harper's Mac

8 ounces elbow macaroni (I used whole wheat)
1/2 onion
1 cup raw cashews
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces roasted red peppers (I used a little over half of a 7-ounce jar),
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Cook pasta until al dente, about 6 minutes or according to package directions. Drain.

Saute diced onion in a little olive oil until the onion is transparent.  Add into blender along with cashews, lemon juice, sea salt and water. Pulse to blend well. Add in peppers, onion and garlic powders, nutritional yeast. Pulse until a well-blended sauce. Pour sauce over pasta and mix well.

Put into a casserole and bake at 425 for 20 minutes or until browned.

I also sauteed up some mushrooms and added them in along with the sliced black olives 

and served with a big side of sauteed veggies...

in Jets colors. Shhhh....