A Meal of New Foods

Wow, sorry for the delay in sharing this post. Long story short – I was without internet. But I’m back!
Where did I leave off…oh yeah, 4 cool ladies taking a taxi to Splice Kitchen. Splice Kitchen is a really great concept. It is a place where food service entrepreneurs can start their businesses by cooking in the kitchen that is rented by the hour.

We headed to the kitchen and laid out all of the wonderful and fresh items purchased at the farmer’s market.

Farmers Market Finds:
  • Radishes
  • Tomatoes
  • Arugula
  • Goat Cheese
  • Corn
  • Brioche
  • Blackberries
  • Mint
  • Basil
  • Eggplant
  • Red Onion
  • Bread
  • Peaches

Doesn’t chef Rhonda look excited to start cooking? She was so much fun to watch work. I could tell she has a huge passion for food and cooking.

Chef Rhonda started prepping the food.
Showing off her knife skills:
After the prep work was complete it was time to fire up the grill!

All the ladies were shocked to find out I’d never tried eggplant.

Before the eggplant was placed on the grill it was sprinkled with salt and left to sit for a bit. I’m told the salt is used to reduce the bitterness of the eggplant.

Red onions were also placed on the grill and would be used as one of the toppers for the sandwich.

Bread was sliced, grilled, rubbed with garlic and finished off with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (ICBINB).

I’m from Nebraska so of course I was excited when I saw corn was on the menu!

The corn was soaked in water prior to putting it on the grill. (I’m not much of a griller but I assume this was to avoid setting the husks on fire).

After the grilling was done the cobs were cut in half and put into a pan with ICBINB, chili powder and cayenne pepper.

The corn was tossed around in the pan and at the very end a squeeze of lime was added.

I have eaten a ton of corn in my life and I can honestly say this was the BEST EVER!!! I don’t know why I never thought of seasoning corn with spices, it’s magic. I wasn’t sure about the addition of the lime but it really adds an excellent flavor to the spiced up corn. So good!!!

Dessert consisted of 2 things this girl has never tried; mini brioche and blackberries.
The brioche was placed on the hot grill for a very short time. This allowed it to get warm and develop some nice grill marks:)

Yum!!! Blackberries are my new favorite fruit. I really can’t believe I used to pick these out of all fruit salads because I thought they looked strange. What the heck was I thinking!?!

We topped the mini brioche with a blackberry, honey and mint mixture.
(This dessert has already been recreated in my kitchen and will most likely be created again and again and again.)

Peaches and onion were sauteed with ICBINB, curry, cinnamon, salt and white pepper.

The peach and onion mixture was tossed with the peppery arugula.

Herb goat cheese was added to both the salad and sandwiches.
I always said I didn’t like goat cheese, that is until I tried Capriole Herb goat cheese. Yum!

Once the food was all prepared we brought it out to the front of Splice Kitchen where the 4 of us could sit down and enjoy the meal.

A look at my plate:

Toasted bread with ICBINB spray, garlic, eggplant, basil, grilled onions and goat cheese (everyone else had tomato but I’m not a fan so I skipped it). This sandwich was awesome! I wasn’t sure what to think of it at first because I had never had eggplant and thought I was not a fan of goat cheese.
Times have changed because I can’t wait to try and recreate this sandwich for my husband to try!

The salad was as good as I thought it was going to be. Arugula, goat cheese and sauteed onion and peaches. I can’t believe how much better the arugula at the farmers market is than the stuff I buy in the store. The peppery flavor of the arugula was the perfect compliment to the sweet peaches.

Best corn on the cob of my life – period, point, blank!!!
I created this the very next day and my husband is just as big a fan as I am!

Excellent meal with a great group of people!

L-R: Chef Rhonda, Mara, Me, Jaclyn

I’ve been a fan of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter for a long time. I love the fact that I can use the spray and put it exactly where I want it to be! I can’t tell you how many times, while growing up, I made popcorn and ruined it by putting way to much butter on it. This scenario doesn’t happen anymore because I can use the spray and put it exactly where I want it to be! A little goes a long way:)
New Foods for Tracey:
  • Eggplant
  • Brioche
  • Blackberries
  • Radishes
I would like to thank I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter for putting together this event. It was such a fun and educational experience!

5 Comments

  • Kris | iheartwellness.com

    I am drooling over here, this corn looks so amazing! I can't remember the last time I had grilled corn….yum!

    xxoo

  • Beth @ DiningAndDishing

    I love sandwiches like that. Grilled veggies on focaccia is a match made in heaven! Esp. with a little balsamic drizzle :).

  • Erica

    Ah! What a fun experience. All of the food looks amazing. Isn't eggplant yummy? And goat cheese MAY be my favorite cheese. Creamy deliciousness. Glad you had such a great experience and tried some new foods

  • Tracey

    Kris – if you like grilled corn you MUST try the dish in this post. Each time I took a bite my mouth was presented with a new flavor, amazing!

    Beth – I've never had a grilled veggie sandwich before but I'm going to start experimenting now. Basalmic drizzle adds a great flavor on almost everything.

    Erica – Yes, eggplant is good!

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