3 August 2009

Fire-Seared Antipasto Platter Made with Love Giveaway
























The winners of last weeks draw are:


Shelby of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch and I have been cooking up a storm in an effort to bring to your attention these 100% natural spice blends from a local artisan company Made with Love . The company is a family run business with a back to basics focus on integrity, insight and simplicity. At Made with Love a bonus is that they choose their packaging consciously with our planet’s health in mind, opting for materials which are natural, reusable, recyclable or biodegradable.

Shelby and I have been alternately cooking up some recipes using our collection of Made with Love Eco-friendly Spice Blends. Each week we have been giving away a different couplet or trio of Spice Blends Gift Sets to you our readers generously supplied by Made with Love. Simply find the weeks chosen "search and find image" and enter to win!! We are in our 5th week of this amazing and generous giveaway!!!!

Their Spice Blends are a hand-crafted, 100% natural blend of spices, herbs and vegetables designed to make everyday cooking and eating simple, healthy and tasty. All of their Spice Blends combine Whole Super Food Nutrition with a focus on antioxidant properties in flavours that are deliciously addictive!!! Every Spice Blend can be used to make dips, spreads, dressings, marinades, sauces, pasta, stir fry, meats, eggs, tofu, beans, soups, chili, veggies, breads, appetizers ...the possibilities are endless to make EVERYTHING taste great!!!!! For the past 4 weeks we have been experimenting and making wonderful dishes with their Spice Blends.

So far, Shelby and I have been whipping up




Creamy Asparagus Soup with a Touch of Dill made with the Daring Dill Spice Blend




Mediterranean Pasta Salad with Ricotta and Feta made with their Pesto Garlic Spice Blend




Barbequed Shrimp made with Red Pepper Blend





Chicken Penne Prima Vera put together with the Prima Vera Spice Blend . Perfecto!!





Here's how to win in the 5th week of our giveaway:


1) Visit their web site http://www.madewithlove.ca/ and find the image/photo "Three in a Tree" for this weeks entry and enter to win at the e-mail below.

2) Leave a comment at madewithlovecontest(AT)gmail(DOT)com where you found the image/photo"Three in a Tree". Please let us know your blog URL so that we can post the names of the winners on our sites with a link back to you!!!

3) You will be automatically entered to win a Made With Love Eco-friendly Spice Blends Gift Set. This weeks winners will receive an Earth-Friendly Gift Set couplet of Red Pepper and Country Onion Regular-size Spice Blends worth $40.

4) Visit either Shelby at The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch or here at More Than Burnt Toast at the beginning of each week for a delicious recipe and a new chance to win!!!

5) The lucky winners who receive their couplet of Spice Blends will create a recipe using their products, blog about it with a link to http://www.madewithlove.ca/ . All of the recipe creations will be posted as a roundup on The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch and here on More Than Burnt Toast. Your recipe may even be on the Made with Love website!!!!

Their flavour combinations are somewhat unusual and take flavours to new heights.

Prima Vera Spice Blend is a wonderful blend of sun-dried tomato, sweet pepper and Italian spices. Try this blend for creamy, red or clear pasta sauces, in cream cheese on a bagel it is heavenly and as a Spanish-style rice side dish.

Crimson Love Spice Blend is a garlic lover’s blend with a strong essence of rosemary in a dried beet base with hints of nori and fresh greens. Wonderful for dips, dressings or pretty pink pasta!

Jalapeno Roots Spice Blend is a rich blend of jalapeno with garlic, onions, sweet peppers and lime in a dried carrot base. Creamy dips & pasta are gorgeous. Spice up your guacamole, veggies, meats or salsa.

Garden Curry Spice Blend is a mild curry blend with a mix of garden vegetables. Blended in cream cheese, pasta or yogurt dip it creates a mild, rich and flavourful sunshine cream!
Country Onion Spice Blend is a traditional mix of fresh garden herbs, caramelized onions and chives. An extremely versatile blend, great on poultry, meats or eggs, fabulous for potatoes and herbed rice.

Pesto Garlic Spice Blend is their dried rendition of its namesake. Not fresh pesto but an easy instant version that is extremely versatile. No pinenuts or cheese here so safe for vegans or nut’free, just a beautiful blend of the herb flavours traditionally recognised as pesto. Great for pasta, meats or salad.

Daring Dill Spice Blend is truly their most sophisticated blend full of great dill flavour followed by a hint of fresh tomato and a hot mustard finish. Lovely on veggies, chicken or fish. Excellent for vinaigrette dressings and creamy sauces. Delightful!

Aztec Chocolate Spice Blend is a complex blend of Real Cacao, Coffee and Vanilla Beans with pungent sweet and spicy peppers. Aztec Chocolate is a traditional savoury flavour mix for Mexican and Latin American cuisine, led by the ancient Aztec and Mayan peoples of the region. Try it on meat dishes, beans, tofu or salad dressings this amazing sweet and spicy combo is great for everyday cooking. Also decadently fabulous for our desert dip.

Red Pepper Spice Blend is sweet with a mild spicy flavour similar to a pepper jelly. A blend of turbinado sugar with a mix of sweet and hot chilies. Amazing on veggies of any kind and a wonder to sprinkle on chicken, pork or fish. Great in mashed potatoes or melted in your popcorn butter it is absolutely addictive.

Next week will be your last opportunity to win these exceptional spice blends that can be shipped worldwide.

This week I whipped up a delicious grilled antipasto. The great thing about antipasto it is wide open to possibilities depending on what is in season as well as what is available in your area. The Red Pepper Spice Blend brought these grilled veggies to new heights of taste perfection!!!!

**Fire Seared Antipasto Platter**
based on a recipe by Cooking Light

Dressing:

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons Made with Love Red Pepper SpiceBlend

Vegetables:
2 cups baby tomatoes
2 red bell peppers, quartered and seeded
2 yellow bell peppers, quartered and seeded
2 zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices (or 6 - 8 baby zucchini)
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 pound asparagus spears
1 package sugar snap peas
1 (1 1/2-pound) small eggplants
Cooking spray

Garnishes:

4 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
1 ounce capocollo, thinly sliced
1 ounce salami fileto (or meats of your choice)
6 ounces halloumi cheese, sliced thickly
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
black olives
**********************
Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

To prepare dressing, combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl, stirring with a whisk.

To prepare vegetables, marinate in dressing. Place vegetables on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes on each side or until lightly charred. Depending on the veggies you choose will depend on the cooking time. For example I used sugar snap peas and asparagus so grill time was only about 2 to 3 minutes. Onions would take the longest. Arrange vegetables on platter; brush with remaining dressing.
Grill halloumi cheese for approximately 2 minutes per side. Brush with aomew of the remaining dressing.
Arrange prosciutto, capocollo, salami filleto and cheese on platter. Sprinkle platter with basil and olives.
Serves 4
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15 comments:

  1. OMG, that antipasto platter looks so gorgeous! Scrumptious!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. That platter looks very appealing Val! What a feast! I could easily eat all of that!

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  3. What a great looking antipasto plate! It would be perfect for entertaining in the summer.

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  4. Gorgeous antipasta plate!!

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  5. Gorgeous and I'm sure that spice blend was just perfect on it.

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  6. You women are amazing. It all looks so wonderful and those spices...yum.

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  7. You mst have had lots of happy customers when you served that platter!! It is simply breathtakingly delicious!!

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  8. What a beautiful antipasto plate. Somehow I haven't mastered antipasto plates yet. Yours is an inspiration and I'm giving it a try.
    Sam

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  9. The presentations are all fantastic. I'm with Peter - I could sit down and finish that whole antipasto plate myself - no sharing :)

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  10. Wow! You ladies have been busy! And I love the company name: All food, spices, etc., should be made with love, don't you think?!

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  11. Val, that platter looks de-lic-ious! :-)

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  12. that antipasto platter has my mouth watering and it's only 6am

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  13. Those jars look so good and beautiful, it's a perfect choice.

    Signature: Looking for premium natural vanilla beans at a bargain? Drop by at myvanillashop for best value.

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  14. Fire-roasted veg assembled on a platter with some cheese is only like my favourite thing to eat, especially in summertime!
    That Aztec Chocolate Mix sounds amazing!!!

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Welcome to my home. Thank you for choosing to stay a while and for sharing our lives through food. I appreciate all your support, comments, suggestions, and daily encouragement.

Val

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