Announcing a Fresh Express Salad Contest!

Look at this beautiful lettuce!  It is intensely green, fresh and crispy, and so delicious.  If you could make any salad with these in-season greens, what would you make???  That is exactly the question you will need to answer to participate in my recipe contest!  


I am excited to announce the beginning of my Fresh Express Salad Contest, as part of my Fresh Express Artisan Ambassador series of posts.  This contest will be the perfect way to stretch your creativity and dream up new, exciting, healthy salad recipes, or just to share your family's best-loved weekday salad.  At the same time, you will get to enjoy the new Artisan lettuce blends brought to you by Fresh Express. 

So how do you participate and how can you win??!  I am hoping to get a wide variety of recipes submitted for this contest, and to have those submitting the recipes be from many different backgrounds; for this reason, the rules and guidelines will be simple and few.  Here's the run down: 

-Your entry can be an original recipe, with new ideas for dressings and interesting ingredients, or can be an adaptation of an existing recipe (just be sure to cite the source!).  If you are a blogger, your recipe should not be something you have already posted on your site. 

-Your recipe entry can include any ingredients, but the lettuce base must be either the Sierra Crisp Herb or the Wild Rocket Zest Artisanal Salad Blend from Fresh Express (These can be bought in CA at Vons, Safeway, or Pavillions; other states, check your local store.  Get a coupon for $1 off!  See more below.)

-Both bloggers and home cooks alike are welcome and encouraged to submit recipes!  If you are a home cook, this contest will give you a window to share your recipe with the world. :)  If you are a blogger, all the entries will be posted in a recipe round-up on this site, which is great exposure for your blog! 

-If you are a blogger, please post your recipe and any photos on your site, link back to this post, and mention you are entering The Cilantropist's Fresh Express Salad Contest.  (I am aware that many bloggers may be busy with PFB; if you are, and have posting constraints, just email me and let me know.) 


-To enter, email the following information to thecilantropist@gmail.com, subject line-Fresh Express Salad Contest:

1. Recipe Title

2. Full Recipe, or entry post permalink (if applicable) 

3. Which Fresh Express Salad Blend you used

4. One photo

5. Name, contact info, and blog name/blog url (if applicable)  


-TWO winners will be chosen!  One winner will be chosen by popular vote based on the recipe round-up posted on this site after the contest is over.  The second winner will be chosen by random, which means that any recipe and any photo can win!  For the prizes Fresh Express will be providing a $25 gift card to Vons/Safeway/Pavillion that you can spend, or a $25 AmEx card that you can use to buy whatever you like.  Your truly (that means me) will also be providing a super cute set of salad themed dish towels and beautiful wooden salad tongs from Crate and Barrel!  Plus, the winner will get a totally awesome badge that you can proudly display on your site to announce that you are a salad master. 

Any questions?  If there are, just direct them to my email, or comment below.  The contest will run Sunday, October 10th through Monday, October 25th, 5pm PST.  The recipe round-up will be posted on Tuesday, October 26th, and voting for a winner will take place from Tuesday through Thursday, with winners being announced on Friday, October 29th. (Right in time for Halloween!)


Before I leave you to get working on your recipes, I want to give you some more information about the Fresh Express Artisanal Salad Blends.  All the lettuces are grown by artisanal farmers in small crops, and if you are interested, you can even check out some of the growing regions on the Fresh Express site.  The farmers also plant season-appropriate herbs and lettuces and the Artisan blends accentuate the different flavors and textures.  The two blends are: 


-Sierra Crisp Herb: a mild sweet blend of Sierra Crisp lettuce, red butter lettuce, and aromatic herbs.
-Wild Rocket Zest: a bold, nutty blend with Wild Rocket Zest Arugula, Tatsoi, and spinach. 

Not totally sure what all those lettuces taste like?  Want to know which one you will like better?  Well if you are a California dweller, you can stop by your local Vons, Safeway, or Pavillions this Saturday, October 9th, for an in-store tasting to experience the Fresh Express Artisan Blends first hand.  (See a full list of store locations and times below.)  They may be passing out coupons at each store, but you can also print out a coupon from the Fresh Express site for $1 off each bag!  Score!
     
I can't wait to see what great salad recipes each of you shares with us! 

Locations of Fresh Express in-store demos:
*Pavillions and Safeway locations, 10:30-5pm, Vons 11-5pm

Store Name	Address	City	State	Zip Code	Confirmed Date	Times
Pavillions	21181 NEWPORT COAST DRIVE	NEWPORT COAST	CA	92657	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Pavillions	1135 LINDERO CANYON RD	THOUSAND OAKS	CA	91362	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Pavillions	8010 E. SANTA ANA CANYON RD	ANAHEIM HILLS	CA	92808	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Pavillions	22451 ANTONIO PARKWAY	RANCHO S. MARGARITA	CA	92688	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Pavillions	6534 PLATT AVE	WEST HILLS	CA	91307	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Pavillions	7 PENINSULA CENTER	ROLLING HILLS ESTATE	CA	90274	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Pavillions	25636 CROWN VALLEY PARKWAY	LADERA RANCH	CA	92694	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	1380 LINDA MAR S.C.	PACIFICA	CA	94044	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	6477 ALMADEN ROAD	SAN JOSE	CA	95120	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	160 FIRST ST	LOS ALTOS	CA	94022	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	1 CAMINO ALTO	MILL VALLEY	CA	94941	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	12876 SARATOGA-SUNNYVALE	SARATOGA	CA	95070	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	1799 MARLOW	SANTA ROSA	CA	95401	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	2 CAMINO SOBRANTE	ORINDA	CA	94563	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	1355 MORAGA WAY	MORAGA	CA	94556	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	2505 SAN RAMON VALLE	SAN RAMON	CA	94583	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	3496 CAMINO TASSAJAR	DANVILLE	CA	94506	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	15549 UNION AVE	LOS GATOS	CA	95032	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	4495 FIRST ST	LIVERMORE	CA	94551	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	2220 SUNSET BLVD	ROCKLIN	CA	95765	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	4440 TASSAJARA ROAD	DUBLIN	CA	94568	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	137 CORTE MADERA	CORTE MADERA	CA	94925	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	3110 BALFOUR ROAD	BRENTWOOD	CA	94513	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Safeway	2207 FRANCISCO DR.	EL DORADO HILLS	CA	95762	10/9/10	10:30a-5p
Vons	28751 LOS ALISOS BLVD.	MISSION VIEJO	CA	92691	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	4241 TIERRA REJADA	MOORPARK	CA	93021	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	5671 KANAN ROAD	AGOURA_HILLS	CA	91301	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	25850 N. THE OLD ROAD	VALENCIA	CA	91355	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	23381 MULHOLLAND DR	WOODLAND HILLS	CA	91364	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	6951 EL CAMINO REAL	CARLSBAD	CA	92009	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	32401 CAMINO CAPISTRANO	SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO	CA	92675	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	2048 AVIENDA DE LAS ARBOLES	THOUSAND OAKS	CA	91360	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	5600 SANTA ANA CANYON RD	ANAHEIM	CA	92807	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	3850 VALLEY CENTRE DR	SAN DIEGO	CA	92130	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	262 N. EL CAMINO REAL	ENCINITAS	CA	92024	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	2606 DEL MAR HEIGHTS RD.	SAN DIEGO	CA	92014	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	2938 TAPO CANYON RD	SIMI VALLEY	CA	93063	10/9/10	11a-5p
Vons	20445 YORBA LINDA BLVD	YORBA LINDA	CA	92886	10/9/10	11a-5p