Blue Ribbon Recipes!

James Valley Landscape Solutions recently held an online recipe contest for recipes that use veggies and fruits (bonus points for those that were James Valley Garden Center plants). We got some amazing recipes and had a REALLY tough time narrowing it down. In the end, we decided to taste test the top three winners. Our staff will be making and taste testing the recipes to declare a final $100 gift card winner, but in the meantime, we thought we’d share the top three recipes with you! Also, don’t forget we still have a great selection of trees, bushes, shrubs and perennials, perfect for fall planting. These are all on sale and ready to go home with you. Fall really is the BEST time for planting, so come take advantage of great prices and awesome weather.

Here are those recipes!

 1. Veggie Torte by Carrie Culhane (Plants from James Valley!)

1 large eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch slices
4 medium zucchini or yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 portobello mushrooms, cut into 1/4-inch slices
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 tablespoons minced garlic
¼ cup chopped basil leaves
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
½ cup Italian style bread crumbs

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms lightly with half the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast or grill vegetables on both sides until soft.
Coat bottom and sides of 8-inch springform pan with oil. Layer a third of the eggplant slices into bottom of the pan, then layer in half the zucchini, mushrooms, tomato, garlic and basil, sprinkling each layer with a bit of salt and pepper. Repeat layers until all vegetable are used. Press down to make torte compact. Sprinkle top with Parmesan and bread crumbs, and drizzle with about 1 tablespoon oil.
Bake torte in oven until hot throughout and browned on top, about 30 minutes. Let sit for five minutes and then cut into wedges.

2. Summer Avo-cuke Salad by Sara Adams
8 c romaine, chopped
8 cocktail/pearl tomatoes (or 16 cherry tomatoes), sliced
1 small sweet onion, sliced
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
2 avocadoes
¼ c extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
BIG pinch of: salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano (I like tons - season to taste!)

3. Apple Crisp by Tara McCormick (with apples from our JVN apple tree!) 
Combine and place in smaller baking dish: 4 c. sliced apples, 1 T. flour, 1/2 c. sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Combine topping of: 3/4 c. brown sugar, 1/3 c. butter, 3/4 c. flour, 1/2 c. oatmeal, 1/4 tsp. baking soda and 1/4 tsp salt. Sprinkle topping over apple mixture. Bake at 350 deg. for 30 mins.