Skinny Harvest Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/3 Cup Fiber One Cereal
• 1/4 Cup Fat Free Feta Cheese
• 2 Cup European Blend Salad
• 2 Large Strawberries Sliced
• 1 Tbsp Dried Blueberries
• 1/2 Cucumber Slice
• 1 Tbsp LunaOlivo Portofino Balsamic to drizzle

Mix all together and enjoy!

Tangerine Salad

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Leafy Lettuce
• 3 Caramelized Pecans
• 1/2 Fresh Tangerine
• 4 Large Blackberries
• 4 Garlic Croutons Broken Apart
• 1 Tablespoon LunaOlivo Siena or Citrico Balsamic to drizzle'

Enjoy!

Skinny Summer Salad

• 2 Large Strawberries Sliced
• 5 Cherries Pitted And Sliced
• 1/3 Avocado Sliced
• 1 Tsp Sesame Seeds
• 1 Tbsp Chopped Pecans
• 1/4 Cup No Sugar Added Mandarin Oranges
• 2 Cups Romaine Lettuce
• 1/2 Orange Bell Pepper Diced
• 1/4 Medium Cucumber Sliced
• 1/4 Cup Cottage Cheese
• Drizzle LunaOlivo Citrico Balsamic to taste

Yum!

Balsamic Strawberry Pizza with Chicken, Sweet Onion and Applewood Smoked Bacon

Ingredients:

½ cup strawberry jam or preserves

¼ cup Luna Olivo Portofino balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon Chili Sauce

1 ball pizza dough, your favorite or a purchased ball of dough*

1 cup diced or shredded chicken breast

½ cup applewood smoked bacon, cut in 1 inch pieces, cooked and drained

½ cup thin sliced sweet onion

12 ounces shredded Italian blend cheese, I used Sargento, but whatever you like best is fine

¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

¼ cup fresh strawberries, diced small

Directions:

1. Place pizza stone or sheet pan on middle rack of oven. Preheat oven to 450?F.

2. Place balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Warm up and add strawberry preserves and Chili Sauce and mix well. Set aside to cool.

3. Pat or roll out pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to approximately a 14 inch circle. Shape does not have to be perfect as this is a rustic pizza. Place a piece of parchment paper, slightly larger than your dough on a pizza peel or an upside down sheet pan. (The parchment paper will make your transfer of the pizza to the oven infinitely easier!) Sprinkle parchment paper lightly with cornmeal. Fold dough in quarters and place on parchment paper, then unfold.

4. Combine chicken with 2 tablespoons of the balsamic-strawberry mixture and mix to coat all chicken with sauce. Pour rest of sauce onto pizza dough and spread to cover. Leave a 1 inch border all around the edge. Scatter chicken evenly over the sauce.

5. Place about 3/4 of the cheese on top of dough and spread to cover sauce evenly. Scatter  bacon and sweet onion over cheese to distribute evenly. Scatter remaining cheese over this layer.

6. Slide parchment paper with pizza on top onto stone or cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Watch carefully, at this temperature it is easy to burn the pizza!

7. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and fresh diced strawberries. Serve and enjoy!

*You can purchase pizza dough from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and many other grocery stores. Often pizzerias will sell a ball of their own dough for a very reasonable price.

Prosciutto Pears

serves 4 as a starter

4 small ripe pears, halved and cored

8 slices proscuitto

4 handfuls rocket

1/2 cup Luna Olivo Modena balsamic vinegar

1/4 brown sugar

Wrap each pear half with a slice of proscuitto and arrange two halves per person on serving plates with the rocket.

Drizzle balsamic over the pears. Serve immediately.

Proscuitto Wrapped Pears with Goat Cheese

Roast Pears with Goats Cheese and Proscuitto


Recipe adapted from taste.com.au
Serves 6


• 200g soft goats cheese
• Finely chopped parsley and basil, to taste
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• 6 small pears
• 12 slices prosciutto
• Luna Olivo Basil Olive oil, to brush
• Rocket leaves, to serve


Dressing
• ¼ cup Luna Olivo Portofino Balsamic 
• 1 tablespoon quality honey


Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)


Combine the goats cheese and herbs and season with salt and pepper. Peel pears, slice in half and scoop out the seeds and core (a teaspoon works well for this). Fill the cavity with goats cheese mixture. Wrap pear halves with prosciutto slices, brush with olive oil and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until pears and soft and prosciutto is crisp.


Combine the vinegar and honey and whisk to combine. To serve, divide rocket amongst serving plates, place two pear halves on top and drizzle with balsamic dressing. Serve warm.

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

Ingredients

2 handfuls fresh spinach
1 grapefruit
1 avocado
2-3 oz. goat cheese
3 Tbs. chopped pecans

1 Tbs. LunaOlivo Blood Orange Olive oil
1/2 Tbs. honey
1/2 Tbs. LunaOlivo Citrico Balsamic
1/2 Tbs. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. poppy seeds
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Slice the top and bottom off the grapefruit, then trim down sides to remove peel and pith. Cut grapefruit into sections. Peel avocado and slice into strips.

Place salad on large plate. Top with remaining salad ingredients. Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients. Pour over salad and enjoy.

Balsamic Pork Belly with Caramelized Figs

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay Magazine

1kg pork belly, skin removed

1 cup (175g) brown sugar

1 cup (250ml) water

½ cup (125ml) LunaOlivo Portofino balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, crushed

8 black figs, halved

¼ cup (45g) brown sugar, extra

balsamic vinegar, extra, to serve

Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Cut the pork into even-sized pieces, thread onto metal skewers and place in a baking dish.

Combine sugar, water, vinegar and garlic in a bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the pork and cover with aluminium foil. Roast for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, increase the heat to 200°C (390°F) and roast, turning occasionally, for a further 1 hour or until caramelised.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Press the figs, cut-side down, into the extra sugar and cook for 1 minute or until caramelised. Serve with the pork and drizzle with extra vinegar to serve. Serves 4.

Blueberry Basil Crisp

For this simple dessert that also works as breakfast. I used a mix of cinnamon and lemon basil. I think lemon thyme or orange thyme would offer lovely flavor in the absence of basil.

I wanted just two servings, baked in a couple of old restaurant bowls I found in an antique shop. This recipe can easily be doubled to fill a casserole dish.

Enjoy the weekend. Bubble up some sweet summer berries and stone fruit. Blueberry Basil Bubble is a blissful way to begin the day and a heavenly way to end it.

Blueberry Basil Bubble

• 2 heaping cups (12 ounces) fresh blueberries, rinsed
• 1 large nectarine or peach, chopped
• 1 tablespoon LunaOlivo Siena balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• a handful of basil leaves, minced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons oats, quick or old-fashioned
• 1/4 cup chilled butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a glass bowl, toss fruit with vinegar, honey and basil. Transfer to 2 greased (I used butter) oven-safe bowls or individual casserole dishes.

For topping, mix flour, salt, brown sugar and oats together. Cut chilled butter into small pieces. Use your clean fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients to form a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle over fruit mixture in bowls.

Place bowls on aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 30 minutes. The juice thickens as it cools. Makes 2 servings. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tips from the cook

It helps to warm the honey just a bit in the microwave oven to make it easy to stir in and coat the fruit.

Raspberry Meringue

16AUGUST

Meringues with raspberry, tonka bean and balsamic vinegar

For 6 servings

Ingredients for the meringue

• 3 egg whites
• 1 / 2 cup sugar
• 1 / 2 c. teaspoon grated tonka bean
• 1 / 2 c. teaspoon LunaOlivo Siena balsamic

Ingredients for the sauce of raspberries

• 1 pint fresh raspberries 170 g
• 1 / 4 c. teaspoon grated tonka bean
• C. 1 tablespoons sugar

Ingredients for whipped cream

• 1 cup whipping cream 35%
• C. 1 tablespoons sugar
• 1 / 2 c. teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for garnish

• 18 fresh raspberries
• C. 1 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff. In the formation of soft peaks, add sugar and grated tonka bean without ceasing to mix. Just prior to stiff peaks, add the balsamic vinegar. Using a spoon and a spatula, place the mixture into six circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Shape a small hollow in the center of each circle with the back of the spoon. Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the meringues. Cook gently for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the meringues are dry outside. Then turn off oven, open the door and let meringues cool about 30 minutes.

To make raspberry sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine raspberries, grated tonka bean and sugar. Let stew for about 5 minutes prior to cool completely.

Meanwhile, whip cream. Before it is fully assembled, add the icing sugar and vanilla.

Service, have a spoonful of sauce on each of the meringues. Garnish with a spoonful of whipped cream, three fresh raspberries and a touch of sugar.

Balsamic Cherries and Peach crisp

3

Yields: 4 servings (4 regular Ramekins or 2 Large size Ramekins) 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients

·         2 big or 4 regular Ramekins or You can even use a regular pie plate and make it a family style

·          

For the layer of fruits:

·         2 ripe peaches diced/sliced (I just used one since my peach was pretty big)

·         1 Tbsp granulated sugar (Add 1 Tbsp more if you peaches are not sweet)

·         ½ to 2/3 cup pitted ripe cherries

·         1 Tbsp LunaOlivo Portofino Balsamic 

·         ¼ tsp salt

·         ¼ tsp vanilla syrup

·          

For Crisp/crust

·         1/4 cup regular Oats

·         ¼ cup all-purpose flour

·         A pinch of salt

·         1 Tbsp brown sugar

·         2 Tbsp cold butter

·          

Mascarpone cream (Recipe follows)

Some sliced almonds and cherries to garnish

Method:

·         Pre-heat the oven to 350F.

·         In a small saucepan, stir together the cherries, sugar and balsamic vinegar, and place over a medium heat.

·         Bring to a boil and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

·         In a medium bowl toss the warm cherries and syrup with the sliced peaches.

·         Divide fruits equally into ramekins and cover with the layer of crust (Recipe below).

·         Bake it for about 35-40 minutes or until the top is browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly.

·         Serve with a dollop of Mascarpone cream (Recipe follows) and garnish with some sliced almonds and cherries.

Method for Crisp/crust:

Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, and the cold, diced butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low-speed until the butter is pea-sized and the mixture is crumbly. OR You can even use your fingertips/butter-dough blender. I prefer using my handy dough blender tool because that way butter stays cold for longer time. And less mess 

Once done follow with the steps mentioned above.

For Mascarpone cream:

·        2 Tbsp Mascarpone cheese ( I made my own but you can buy it from the store) (Room temperature)

·         ½ tsp Vanilla syrup

·         1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

·         1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Method:

Place the sugar into the mixing bowl and add the whipping cream. Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks. Add Mascarpone cheese and mix for 1 or 2 times. Just mix it do not beat it.

Put a big scoop of Mascarpone cream on the top of your Balsamic cherries n peach crisp and garnish with some sliced almonds, cherries and serve. Serve warm or at room temperature.

ENJOY!