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. 

Zesty Greens with Black Mission Figs, Parmesan, and Pine Nuts

It's salad time again!  Today I want to share my second recipe in this series as Artisan Ambassador for the new Fresh Express artisan salad blends, and to start telling you a few things that I have really enjoyed about these lettuces. (And to hint at a recipe contest with a prize!  See below!)

For this salad, I used the Wild Rocket Zest artisanal blend, which includes arugula, spinach, and tatsoi.  Never heard of tatsoi?  Neither had I.  (Turns out my 'greens IQ' was not as high as I thought!)  Tatsoi is an Asian green varietal also known as spoon mustard or spinach mustard.  It has beautiful dark green spoon-shaped leaves that you can see in the photo above.  Because of its lovely aesthetic, this green is commonly grown as edible landscaping, otherwise known as ornamental lettuce.     

I wanted to mix this peppery blend with something a little sweet and a little savory, so I used some beautiful California Black Mission figs and paired them with shaved parmesan and pine nuts.  In the fall, I just adore figs, and I try my best not to become obsessed with them (like I did with peaches this summer), although I make no promises.  Because what's not to love?  Mission figs have a plump, and almost voluptuous shape, and a deep purple color that adds great color to salads and other dishes.  I also love them for their soft and grainy texture and subtle sweetness.  

For the dressing, I went with a simple Sherry vinaigrette with a little garlic for some extra flavor.  The sweeter sherry vinegar balanced really well with the arugula and the italian flavors of the pine nuts and parmesan.  Since there aren't a lot of dominant flavors in this salad, the thing that really took it over the top was this lettuce blend; the flavor kicks up a party in your mouth and has just the right amount of spicy arugula mixed with other greens to be interesting.     

Easy Everyday Salad

Hi friends!  I am excited to start sharing a series of posts dedicated to my favorite leafy vegetables: salad greens!  The wonderful folks over at Fresh Express have asked me to be a part of their Fresh Express Artisan Ambassador program as they launch their new line of artisan lettuce blends.  Myself and three other bloggers will be sharing recipes for healthy and delicious salads, as well as hosting a little recipe contest, and even helping you learn new things about lettuce along the way.  In addition to that, I will be growing four different types of lettuces that are featured in the Fresh Express artisan blends  to demonstrate that the lettuce they chose is truly that is in-season.  Are you ready to get started?  

I am planning to showcase this lovely lettuce with recipes ranging from simple to sophisticated, and today I will start by sharing my most simple and favorite weekday salad.  For this salad, I used the Sierra Crisp Herb blend, which contains sierra green leaf lettuce, red butter lettuce, parsley, and even cilantro!  Is it any wonder that I loved it? 

This salad is so easy to make and soooo fresh and healthy that I eat some variation of it at least once (if not twice) every week.  It is like my own little not-so-dirty secret and the ace in my pocket that helps keep me in skinny jeans even though I can't resist cookies and ice cream.  

Basically, I start with beautiful greens, and add whatever vegetables or fruits I have on hand.  In most cases I love to use the combination of ripe tomatoes, carrots and avocado, because they are so colorful and taste great together.  Other times, I might use celery for its crunch, or strawberries or raspberries for their sweetness.  Always, I use something creamy or rich such as the avocado or maybe feta, blue cheese, or egg.  As a bonus, adding cheese, egg, nuts, or chicken also ups the ante by giving you a solid dose of protein with your veggies.  I think a really important part of making salads appetizing, instead of something "green" to be tolerated, is including things like cheese that make you want to eat them.

Look!  These are more tomatoes from my plants!