Tag Archives: inspiration

Cherry Caprese Salad

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Cherry Caprese Salad

“Cherries are seasonal and you can find them at our farmers markets between July & August.
I love to serve this dish with a light tomato sauce-based pasta dish or with balsamic grilled chicken thighs. Perfect summer Italian dinner!”

Some of the best summer time stone fruits are available at our farmers markets now! Cherries are one of them and boy do they pack a healthy punch! You’ll get a dose of vitamins C, A and K along with calcium, potassium, magnesium, beta-carotene and choline. They may be small but they are mighty! Cherries are seasonal and you can find them at some of our farmers markets between July & August. I pit the cherries and give some to my goats and chickens- they love these little red treats! I sourced the ingredients from the Calabasas Farmers Market.

Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 cup organic balsamic vinegar (Gourmet Blends)
  • 8 ounces organic Burrata cheese (Fresco Pasta)
  • 1 lb. organic fresh dark sweet cherries (about 3 cups) or 1/2 lb. each tart red and dark sweet cherries, pitted (G Farms)
  • 1 cup organic cherry tomatoes, halved (Frecker Farms)
  • ½ cup organic fresh basil leaves (Frecker Farms)
  • 2 tablespoons organic extra-virgin olive oil (Halaby Verni Farms)
  • Organic flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (Nordic Catch – Salt & Convivial Spice – Pepper)

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan bring balsamic vinegar to a simmer over medium. Continue to simmer, uncovered, about 12 minutes or until thick and reduced to 1/4 cup; let cool.
  2. Drain and pat dry burrata. Cut cheese in half. Spread over the bottom of the platter. Arrange cherries, tomatoes, and basil on cheese.
  3. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon balsamic reduction and the olive oil.
  4. Sprinkle it with sea salt flakes and ground black pepper.

Halaby Verni Farms
Frecker Farms
G Farms Cherry Season
Fresco Pasta
Gourmet Blends

Grilled Apricot Thyme Chicken Recipe

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Grilled Apricot Thyme Chicken Recipe

“Great for Sunday night dinners in summer!“

I love all kinds of stone fruit, especially apricots! I have many fruit trees in my backyard and, of course, an apricot tree. Apricots are so nutritious and packed full of antioxidants & potassium. In this dish- the thyme and apricot flavors melt together in pure harmony. Great for Sunday night dinners in summer! I sourced everything from the Brentwood Farmers Market. The perfect pairing for this entrée is a fresh garden salad and rosemary garlic mashed potatoes! Yum!

Serves: 4
Cook time: 1 hour
Prep time: 2 mins

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Chop seven of the apricots (should have 1 ½ cups); set aside. For glaze, in a 2 qt saucepan melt the 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add minced shallot & garlic; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in chopped apricots, ½ cup filtered water, honey, and vinegar. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered, 10 minutes or until apricots soften, stirring occasionally. 
  2. Let cool slightly. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Stir in thyme and 1 tsp sea salt. Set aside 1 cup glaze for serving. 
  3. Prepare the grill for indirect heat. Sprinkle chicken pieces with remaining ¼ tsp sea salt and Peppa. Place chicken, skin side down, over a drip pan. Grill, covered, over medium 25 minutes. Turn chicken and brush glaze over chicken. Grill 25 minutes more or until chicken is done (170 degrees for breast halves, 175 for thighs and drumsticks), brushing occasionally with remaining glaze (discard any remaining). For crispier chicken, grill over direct heat, skin side down, the last 5 minutes. 
  4. Brush remaining apricot halves and the shallot halves with 2 tbsp melted butter. Grill, covered, directly over medium 4-5 minutes or until lightly charred, turning once.
  5. Serve chicken with apricot halves & shallots. Drizzle with glaze; top with additional thyme.
Pedro’s Ranch
Convivial Spice
Maust Poultry Farm
Fresco Pasta
Country Fresh Farm
Arnett Farms

Green Chicken Enchiladas

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Ingredients:

  • 3 organic chicken breasts, boiled & shredded (or a rotisserie chicken)
  • Canned organic/GF chopped green chiles, 2 cans (or fresh roasted, chopped chiles)
  • GF green tomatillo enchilada sauce, 3 packages (5 if doing more than one tray of enchiladas)
  • Light organic sour cream, 1 tub
  • 1-2 packages of organic shredded cheese, mozzarella or Monterey Jack
  • Spinach or Fiesta Gluten free Tortillas, 2 packages (Whole Foods)
  • Organic cumin, to taste
  • Pink Himalayan salt and organic pepper, to taste
  • Organic garlic powder, to taste
  • Organic onion granules, to taste
  • 1-2 organic white onions, diced
  • 1 package of frozen, chopped organic spinach, defrosted and strained

Instructions:

  • Set out frozen spinach or add to a hot bowl of water, let stand until defrosted then strain the water out in a colander. If using fresh green chilies, you can either oven roast them until they are charred a little or you can roast them on the stove top, over the burner. Then chop up & set aside.
  • Next, heat a sauté pan to low-medium heat and add diced onions with a splash of olive oil. Cook onions until they start to brown, and remove from heat. If using raw chicken breasts, boil them for 15 mins. And shred once cooled. If using rotisserie chicken, shred meat and set aside. 
  • For the tortillas, heat a sauté pan on medium heat with ¼ cup of olive oil. Cook the tortillas in the oil for only 30 seconds on each side, and lay onto paper towels to blot the excess oil off. Repeat until you have about 11 tortillas cooked. 
  • Grab a big bowl; add shredded chicken, defrosted and strained spinach, cooked/caramelized onions, chopped canned or fresh green roasted chilies, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion granules & ¾ of the tub of sour cream. Pour about ½ cup of enchilada sauce into the bottom of a large, glass lasagna dish and rotate to coat the bottom. Add about ½ cup of enchilada sauce to a glass pie dish. 
  • To assemble; dip a tortilla into the sauce, add two heaping tablespoons of enchilada filling into the tortilla, and roll. Add it seam side down into a glass lasagna dish. Repeat until all of the tortillas are finished and in the dish. 
  • Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of them (you may need to open another package to cover them all with sauce). Then top with cheese and bake in a 375 degree oven until the cheese is bubbling and has a slight golden brown color. Enjoy!

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