During the past week, I’ve made this recipe three times.  Last night I had it with broiled asparagus coated with Simply Boulder Lemon Pesto and it was delicious together.

When making honey dijon chicken I usually use two ingredients; chicken and honey dijon.  But, sometimes I like a little extra dijon flavor when using the honey dijon as a marinade/glaze as opposed to a salad dressing.  This recipe has extra dijon which gives it an extra kick, but in order to have a more simple recipe it’s terrific without adding any extra dijon.

Since the chicken is sliced into thin strips, this gives the chicken a lot of surface area to absorb the wonderful flavor of the honey dijon.  Plus, it allows the chicken to cook quickly, keeping it nice and moist.

3 Tablespoons dijon mustard

Cut the chicken breasts into thin strips (approximately 1/4th of an inch wide)

Place the chicken in a plastic bag with 1/2 cup of Simply Boulder Honey Dijon.  Knead bag in order to mix the contents well.  Place in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

Preheat grill to approximately 300 degrees (or it can be baked or broiled inside).  After the grill is preheated place the chicken strips on the grill.  Flip once or twice and cook for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, or until completely cooked.  Remove chicken from grill and set aside.

Place the remaining honey dijon into a microwave safe bowl.  Add the dijon mustard and stir.  Place in microwave for approximately 15 seconds on high.

Drizzle honey dijon mixture onto grilled chicken strips and serve.

This summer we’ve been part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and as a result we’ve had a lot of beets for the past few months.  As a result, we’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with them, and came up with a terrific side dish or appetizer.  Plus, it’s a very simple recipe that uses few ingredients and little prep time.

Simply Boulder Honey Dijon

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees.  Wash each beet and wrap in foil.  Place on baking sheet and then bake in oven for approximately an hour or until tender.  After the beets have cooled off slightly, cut each beet in quarters and place on a serving plate.

Warm some Simply Boulder honey dijon in the microwave or on the stove until it’s lukewarm.

Sprinkle goat cheese on top of the beets and then drizzle with Simply Boulder Honey Dijon.

Simply Boulder Lemon Pesto, 2/3 cup

Place vegetables in boiling water.  After boiling for approximately 10 minutes, drain water.  Pour the Simply Boulder Lemon Pesto in with the vegetables and simmer for approximately 5 minutes, while stirring occasionally.

Bored with traditional pizzas, yesterday I experimented with an Asian pizza using our peanut sauce.  I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since it sounds kind of strange, but it was fantastic.  Not only did the ingredient combinations taste delicious, but it had a terrific gluten free crust.

For the first time I used Namaste Foods gluten free pizza crust mix.  When I was making the pizza crust, I was unsure how good it would be.  It’s unlike most pizza crust mixes since it has the consistency of pancake batter before baking instead of the more traditional pizza dough consistency.  But, somehow it turns out excellent.  It was a moist and fluffy, yet didn’t get soggy after the pizza was made. I’d even highly recommend this pizza crust mix for people that aren’t on a gluten free diet.  It’s just as good as the pizza crusts with gluten and was the best pizza crust mix I’ve ever had.

As a note, I originally thought mozzarella cheese with the coconut peanut sauce would be strange and about left off the cheese.  This would have been a big mistake since the cheese goes great on this pizza and it wouldn’t be as good with out it.  Regarding the rest of the ingredients, I kept it pretty simple and only had chicken, red bell peppers, and cheese as toppings.  I think diced red onion and cilantro would go really well on it too.

3 garlic cloves, minced

Either dice the chicken breasts or cut into small slices.  Place olive oil in a pan or wok on medium heat.  When oil is hot add chicke,  garlic, salt, and pepper.  Cook approximately 5-10 minutes until cooked completely.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Bake the pizza crust according to the directions on the Namaste package.  Spread a layer of coconut peanut sauce on the crust.  I used 2/3rds of a bottle, however the amount depends on how much sauce is desired.  Top with red bell pepper, chicken, and cheese.

Bake pizza for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.

Lately I’ve read several articles and blogs about bisphenol-A (BPA) being used in canned goods.  Examples include an article in the Huffington Post, Consumer Reports and an article by the editor of Prevention Magazine.  The issues with BPA’s being used in canned foods are they can leach into the food.

According to Liz Vaccariello of Prevention Magazine canned tomatoes can have a lot of BPA due to the high acidity of the tomatoes.  Apparently the high acidity causes more of the BPA to transfer to the food.  As a result Liz Vaccariello recommends that people concerned with this do not purchase tomatoes in cans, and purchase them in glass jars instead.  This is a good idea, but I’d like to expand on this.  Just because a product such as canned tomatoes, salsa or marinara sauce is in a glass bottle doesn’t mean it doesn’t have high amounts of BPA.  For example it’s possible that a bottle of salsa at the grocery store is made with crushed tomatoes that were packaged in #10 metal cans before being produced into salsa.  The larger manufacturers most likely purchase their tomatoes in large plastic drums or totes, however some smaller companies do purchase canned tomatoes in #10 cans.  If concerned about BPA’s showing up in glass containers you’re probably fine if it’s a large manufacturer.  However, if it’s a small company and you’re concerned about BPA, it may be a good idea to contact the company and ask if they purchase their tomatoes in BPA free containers.

The fact that BPA could be transferred into ingredients before the final product is manufactured made me think of something else.  A lot of ingredients such as fruit juices, vinegar, and olive oil are stored in plastic drums or totes before being manufactured into the final product.  This made me wonder if these drums contain BPA and could contaminate our ingredients at Simply Boulder Culinary Sauces.  I looked into this and luckily the plastic drums we use are made with HDPE which doesn’t contain BPA.

To sum everything up, just because a product comes in a glass bottle or jar does not mean it doesn’t have BPA.  It’s possible that one of the ingredients such as crushed tomatoes could have come to the manufacturer in #10 metal cans.  As I mentioned this is very unlikely for medium and large manufacturers, but it’s not uncommon for very small manufactures to order some ingredients in metal cans.  I’m hoping that one day BPA will be banned from metal cans, but until then it’s best to try ask questions if unsure.

This healthy recipe is perfect for the holidays.  Although our recipe calls for the pork chops being stuffed with “stuffing” it would also be delicious stuffed with vegetables.  As mentioned on the ingredient list it also calls for day old gluten free bread.  Of course it’s just as good with the regular bread that contains gluten.  Plus, it’s also possible to cheat and use the prepackaged stuffing that can be found in grocery stores, although I prefer to make it from scratch.

Regarding the cooking method, I prefer to grill pork chops.  Since it’s the middle of winter I’m sure there are a lot of people that would prefer to cook inside.  If that’s the case the pork chops could either be broiled or baked.  If the broiling method is used the cooking time should be about the same as mentioned below since it’s the same thing as grilled except the heat source comes from the top.  If the pork chops are baked I’d use a 350 degree oven and cook approximately 30 minutes or until completely done.

Simply Boulder Culinary Sauces Pineapple Ginger

Preheat grill or broiler.

In a small saucepan or skillet sauté the onion and celery in butter until tender.  Add enough salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat and mix in the bread cubes.  Set aside.

Mince the kumquats and place in a saucepan.  The nice thing about kumquats is all parts can be used and nothing is wasted.  The inside is tart and the skin is sweet and together it’s really delicious.  After the minced kumquats are added to the sauce pan pour approximately 1 cup of Simply Boulder Pineapple Ginger to the pan and stir.  Turn heat on low and cover.  After about 5-10 minutes of simmering turn heat off and set aside.

Cut a slit in the side of the pork loin chops to hold the stuffing.  Instead of doing this yourself, it’s also possible to have a butcher perform this task.  The slit should only be visible on one side of the pork chop and it should go through most of the meat without poking through to another side.

Take the stuffing and stuff the inside of each pork chop.  The stuffing should stay in place well without the use of a toothpick.  Place pork chops on the grill and cook for approximately 10 minutes per side or until completely cooked.

Remove pork chops from the grill and drizzle with the pineapple ginger kumquat sauce.

In time for the holidays our 4 bottle gift boxes are now 30% off which makes them only $16.80 each.  They make a delicious and unique gift that people are sure to love.  To receive 30% off use promo code “decemberspecial” at checkout.  Good until the end of the month.

This weekend Sunflower Farmers Market (Newflower Farmers Market in Texas) will be hosting a Thanksgiving tasting fair in all of their locations.  Not only is it a good way to try out  delicious and healthy recipes, but it’s a terrific way to sample new products.  Simply Boulder Culinary Sauces will be sampled along with about 10 to 15 other products.  Our cooking sauces that will be sampled are coconut peanut, truly teriyaki, and pineapple ginger.  I’m not sure how they’re going to use them, but I think they’re going to use the pineapple ginger as a glaze or dipping sauce for roasted turkey.  It sounds like a match made in heaven.  The tasting fair is scheduled to last between 11:00AM and 2:00PM on November 14th, 2009.

This is a delicious and healthy salad that’s perfect for a meal or a side. It can easily be modified to be vegetarian by removing the steak, or dairy free by removing the cheese. Last night I made this recipe, and was so eager to start eating it that I forgot to take a picture. It was so good, I’ll probably make it again in the near future and when I do I’ll be sure to take a picture and attach it to this post.

Place steak in a plastic bag and coat with honey dijon. Let sit for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.
While the steak is marinating, preheat grill or broiler. After the steak is marinated cook for approximately 5 minutes per side or until the desired level of doneness. After cooking let stand 10 minutes and then cut into thin slices.

Add all vegetables in a large salad bowl and top with the steak and blue cheese. Drizzle with Simply Boulder Honey Dijon and serve.

Last weekend I attended the Orange County, California gluten free food fair.  It was only the second gluten free food fair that this chapter has hosted, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Luckily, it turned out terrific.  Not only were there a good mix of gluten free food manufacturers and restaurants, but they offered free celiac disease testing.

Celiac disease tests can run hundreds of dollars, so I was really surprised when I found out that they were offering free tests at the event.  From what I was told, chapter leaders spent a lot of time organizing this, and it involved getting a grant to cover the costs.  I figured it was such a good opportunity, I even got tested.

When I was filling out the paperwork to get my blood drawn for the celiac test, one of the members of the CSA chapter was surprised that I was getting tested.  I think she just assumed that I had Celiac Disease (or had it diagnosed in the past) since I have a company that makes gluten free sauces.  This question always seems to come up a lot.  I mentioned that besides creating sauces that taste wonderful and are as healthy as possible, we try to make them so as many people as possible can enjoy them.  In regards to being gluten free, I know a lot of people with either celiac disease or people just trying to avoid wheat and gluten.  The purpose of making our sauces gluten free is so they can enjoy them. 

Besides having free celiac disease testing, there were about 30 vendors present.  Of course Simply Boulder Culinary Sauces was one of them.  I occasionally took breaks and sampled food at other tables.  One of my favorite foods from the show was gluten free pizza from Cicero’s.  Their pizza was so delicious; I couldn’t even tell it was gluten free.  It was so good, I decided to head over there for dinner that evening.  I figured if they did such a good job with gluten free pizza, I wanted to see how their regular pizza was.  It was good, but somehow I think I liked the gluten free pizza even more than their non-gluten free pizza.  I couldn’t find a web site for Cicero’s, so I’ll list their contact information at the bottom of this e-mail. 

Cicero’s Pizzeria Kitchen Inc

24531 Trabuco Rd # F
Lake Forest, CA 92630-2162

(949) 855-3114‎