Happy Wednesday to you! Guess where I was last night? You will never guess…. I was invited to a special “invited guests only” tasting at Liquid Gold Tasting Bar downtown. How cool is that? Well beyond the cool part, How tasty is that? The combination of atmosphere paired with amazing products and delicious food made the 2 hour tasting a true joy.

I wanted to share a little bit about Liquid Gold and then get into some of the pics and food tasting from last night.

“Olio Fresco”.  It’s Italian for fresh oil.

Pure, fresh, extra virgin olive oils are now in Charlottetown. Here to be sampled, savored, bottled and combined with spectacular balsamic vinegars in an awesome array of combinations. Smooth, buttery, zesty, earthy, rich, deep, moody and delicious.

The oils are pure, single fruits called cultivars, or are cultivars that have been deliciously flavored. In spring/summer, our oils come from the southern hemisphere where the winter crop is harvested between May and July. In the fall & winter, our oils will come from the Mediterranean.

Our balsamic vinegars are from Modena, Italy. They are either dark or white and are traditional, organic or spectacularly flavored

We also carry an assortment of gourmet oils, mustards and glazes, Italian pastas, stuffed olives, sea salts, ceramics, olive wood products, hand creams, skin moisturizers and soaps.

The place is super cool! They had chef John Pritchard serving up some amazing eats with their products. Do you remember when I teamed up with John for the potato festival last year. From truffle oil aioli, flavored hummus, tons of bread( to sample the amazing oils and vinegars to a peach balsamic martini that would knock your socks off – the tastes were amazing.

As I was walking around “chatting with folks” I had so many ideas of recipes with these products. Is there anything better than working with “real” ingredients? In thinking about food, I checked out their site on my phone as I was taste testing and realized they had some nice recipes on their site that almost made me drool.

As soon as I got home, I checked out their site and talked to Mrs. Zesty about the store…. I was impressed.  I then went to their blog and I found a nice variety of recipes that they have posted that use their ingredients…. I think you might like some of them – actually who I am trying to kid – you are going to love them.  See below for a sample.

How about White Truffle Fries w/ Parmesan? or Pomegranate Glazed Salmon?  I know…. makes me excited just to think about it.

Tuna Salad , White Truffle Fries and Pomegranate Glazed Salmon

Totally a fun tasting night…. I could do that every night for sure. great job to both the G! and Liquid Gold for putting on a fun event. I hope it will become a tradition and they invite me again. If you have any questions about Liquid Gold you can check out their site or let me know and I can pass them along. have a super bump in the road Wednesday and i will talk to you on Friday with a Movember update.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Good morning and I thank you.  For all the nice emails regarding the thanksgiving feast and your request for certain recipes.  I will work on getting those for you and post them either Friday of this week or early next week.  Today I wanted to share with you a simple salad that can be put together in minutes and meet all the nutritional needs of your body.  Salads for lunch can get pretty boring, at least for me so every now and I again I switch them up and keep the flavors unique.

This combination of balsamic, mango with roasted chicken was a great combination.  Maybe because there is feta cheese on there as well with some crunch from slivered almonds and firm cucumber.  Whatever the flavors may be, try to match texture with sexiness and your salads will make your tummy happy both inside and out.  Wow, I just re read that line and it sounds like I am promoting healthy eating.  What I was really going for is that if you make foods that look good you are more apt to enjoy them and feel good after you eat them.

OK enough with the sensitive chatter let’s get going and build this salad.  I will not put the measurements as it totally doesn’t matter.

Ingredients

• Baby spinach
• Iceberg lettuce
• Cucumber
• Slivered almonds
• Fresh mango
• Roasted chicken
• Feta cheese
• Tomatoes, grape
• Balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Assemble all ingredients on a plate or bowl starting with the largest vegetables and continuing to chicken and cheese.
2. Drizzle with balsamic.
3. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For a new twist on salads, heat up the balsamic vinegar or whichever dressing you like and pour it over your salad.  The warmth of the dressing will start to wilt the spinach ever so slightly and give you a whole different texture and perspective on your salad.

I am just about ready to head into the office.  Middle of the week is upon us and the middle of October is approaching.  Before I sign off I have a BIG question for you.

What is your favorite SALAD DRESSING?

I am just curious because normally I am balsamic vinegar or a homemade version of olive oil, mustard, honey and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Spill the beans and tell me yours via email or comments.  Have a great Wednesday and keep smiling.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

A package of lean ground beef, 2 hot house tomatoes, 2 sweet potatoes and some baby romaine.

Turned into an Indian infused meatball that had reviews all around the table.  Things like:

• Wow, Delicious.
• Amazing flavor.
• Dad, another meatball please – these are double thumbs up.

Nothing makes me feel better than preparing food that everyone enjoys and remembers.  Last night’s meal was definitely one of those meals.  Nothing fancy or complex just a simple dish packed with flavor and using fresh ingredients.

The highlight of the dish was the sauce.  A reduction of tomatoes and balsamic vinegar hot with a shot of barbecue sauce at the end to balance it out.  We could have licked the pan dry on this one.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 Cup Raw Instant Oatmeal
• 1/2 Tsp. Coriander
• 1 Tsp. Garlic, minced
• 1 Tsp. Cumin
• 1/4 Tsp. nutmeg
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/3 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 tomatoes , cut into quarters
• 3 Tbsp. Barbeque sauce

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. In a large bowl, add ground beef, egg, oatmeal, all the spices and mix together.
3. Preheat a dry pan on the stove to high heat, and begin to shape your meatballs. Place the meatballs in the pan and sear on both sides.
4. Once seared, add the tomatoes and move to the oven to finish cooking – about 12 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and set the meat balls aside.  Returning the pan to a hot burner, add the balsamic vinegar and barbecue sauce and let reduce for your sauce.
6. Wait for the “fat” roasted sweet potatoes
7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I find when you buy lean or extra lean ground beef it can dry out quickly and become pretty awful.  Adding the egg and hint of oatmeal will help add some moisture inside.  You can always add cheese as well.

Alright, I better go get cleaned up and on the road.  Have a super Wednesday and I will touch base you on Friday with something sweet.  It is time we made something sweet – dontcha think?  Oh Wow – I just remembered it is Mother’s Day this weekend. Hmmm I better get the hamster moving for some ideas.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty