Fancy Spam Sandwich for Obama

The Republican attempt to smear Barack Obama as an effete, arugula-eating liberal is totally not working on me. Every time some McCain surrogate trots out this meme, my brain drifts away, Homer Simpson-like, to actual arugula. Mmmm...arugula. (Besides which, is it not obvious that Obama was joking? Poking fun at himself for being citified?)

I think this is why I've been buying a lot of arugula lately and putting it in everything. It's subconscious. Maybe the Republicans are actually in the pocket of the K Street arugula lobby.

Anyway, here is a sandwich I ate last week. At the time, I just wanted to try some Spam. I half-jokingly bought Lawson a Spam Single last year, and it's been sitting in the pantry, and I thought it would make a tasty, humorous lunch.

But today I realized it was a nice tribute to the candidate. And since this is convention week, here you are, Mr. Senator.

1. Obama, like me, grew up in Hawai'i, where Spam is the unofficial state food. I sauteed the slice of Spam in a little olive oil until it was a nice golden color on both sides.
2. If the notoriously healthy Obama were to actually eat a Spam sandwich, it would be on whole wheat bread with fresh garden tomatoes. Plus, it's August. Garden tomatoes are in season.
3. Butter, rather than guns, was applied to the toast.
4. On top of the butter was a layer of mustard, because mustard goes well with things like baloney, hot dogs, and Spam. Sorry, I got nothing.
   
5. Arugula goes surprisingly well with mustard and Spam. And its weakness as a political tag gives me hope that Karl Rove is way, way off his game.
   

The sandwich was delicious. Delicious like respect for the Constitutional separation of powers, decision-making based on careful consideration of facts and consequences, and the end of torture as an instrument of empire. Mmm!

Roasted Cherry Tomato and Garlic Pasta

Susan told me how to make this when we were visiting them in Texas last week. She just gave me the general idea, so I hope this is what she meant. It was great, anyway.

Roasted Cherry Tomato and Garlic Pasta

2 cups cherry tomatoes

1 head of garlic, cloves separated but not peeled

Roast the garlic and cherry tomatoes in a hot oven for 20 or 30 minutes, or until garlic is soft and the tomatoes have collapsed and charred.

2 servings penne or other pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

Pasta water

Red chile flakes to taste

Salt, pepper

Cook the pasta. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins into the skillet and mash them into the oil. Add the cherry tomatoes and do the same. Put in a few tablespoons of pasta water to form a sauce. Season with red chile flakes, salt, and pepper to taste.

2 to 4 cups arugula leaves
Parmesan cheese

Drain pasta, but not too thoroughly, and toss with the sauce. Add arugula and toss until wilted. Serve at once, topped with grated Parmesan.