ARF/5-A-Day #101

I can’t believe that Christmas is a week away – where does the time go? On one hand, I feel completely ready, but on the other, I feel wholly unprepared – ack! As food bloggers are busy in their own kitchens getting ready for the holidays, we have a small ARF/5-A-Day roundup tonight, and in light of everyone’s crazy busy schedule, we’re going to skip the round-up next week. We’ll bring it back the first week in the new year.

Catching up on my celebrity gossip the other day (hello? a girl’s gotta have an outlet!) led me right to my ARF/5-A-Day contribution for tonight, believe it or not. OK! magazine did an article on Kimberley Locke (former American Idol contestant) and her new restaurant, Croton Creek. Having gone from a size 14 to a size 6, no surprise that her focus is on healthy food. In the article she shared a restaurant recipe for Tomato Salad. Surprisingly I had nearly all the ingredients on hand (sometimes we get lucky) and it quickly became a starter for tonight’s meal. Now onto what others cooked up for our roundup…

Laurie from Tastes Like Home is up first, reliving some fond memories of her first encounter with pomegranate juice, with her to Chicken with Pomegranate Wine Sauce:

Sarah from Cucina Bella unveiled a brand spanking new website design this week and now the yummy-sounding Asian Inspired Portobella Mushrooms:

Siri’s Corner takes care of our sweet tooth nicely this week with her Chocolate Sformato with Amaretto Whip Cream:

Cooking is Medicine tries out a ligher version of a favorite Chinese restaurant menu item with her Lighter Sesame Chicken:

Sarah from What Smells So Good finishes off our roundup nicely with her Warm Grecian Salad:

Tomato Salad
Courtesy of Kimberley Locke and her Croton Creek restaurant

3 vine-ripened tomatoes
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 lemon, freshly squeezed
2 T extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 T chives, chopped
endive leaves, optional garnish
micro-greens/sprouts, optional garnish

Cut tomatoes into bite-size chunks and toss in mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients. Serve in a shallow soup bowl and garnish with endive leaves around and micro-greens or sprouts on top.

Cate’s Notes: I didn’t have the endive or sprouts, so skipped that part. Had plum tomatoes on hand, so used that instead. Recipe indicates it serves 1, but with a 1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, 2 is more like it (and we had a little bit left over at that).