New Recipe: Crunchy Cali Kale Salad w/ Smokey Tahini Dressing

After my latest trip to Los Angeles, I realized the Kale trend is here to stay, so why not embrace it for all its leafy green goodness! I had some dynamite salads in Santa Monica the other week, so I wanted to make my own Kale salad that reminded me of the flavors of Cali, with a dressing that pays homage to the Greek gods themselves!

Here is my crunchy Kale Salad with Smokey Tahini Dressing, let me know what you think!

Crunch Kale Salad w/ Smokey Tahini Dressing

Recipe by Bobby Parrish

Serves 2 people

Cooking time: 20 minutes

1 Bunch of kale, stems removed, roughly chopped

½ a crunchy apple, finely sliced into match sticks(julienne)

1 large carrot, cut julienne

1 Avocado, cubed

3 Medium size beets, cut into cubes (Roasted or canned beets work fine)

1 large handful of toasted cashews(plus a few more for garnish)

8 pitted dates, roughly chopped

1 grapefruit, segments cut out(save a few for garnish), and juiced

1 pound of raw shrimp, shelled and de-veined

Fresh Parsley

Kosher Salt & Fresh Pepper

EVOO

For the dressing:

1/3 cup of Tahini(sesame seed paste)

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp grapefruit juice

1 Tbsp lemon juice

½ tspn smoked paprika

1 clove garlic, grated or very finely diced

2 Tbsp greek yogurt

1 Tbsp EVOO

Kosher salt & Fresh Pepper

Water

For the dressing:  Add the first 7 ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. Add enough water(1-3 Tbsp) to loosen the consistency and make it runny, but still a little thick. Whisk in 1 Tbsp of EVOO, a pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning, it may need more honey or lemon juice, and set aside.

Combine first 8 ingredients(except the grapefruit juice) in a large salad bowl and put aside. Pre-heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat with 2 Tbsp of EVOO. Season the shrimp with a splash of EVOO, kosher salt and pepper. Add shrimp to pan, and cook for 2 minutes each side, or until shrimp are just done, do not over-cook. Put the cooked shrimp in a clean bowl, add some fresh chopped parsley and 1 tbsp each of lemon and grapefruit juice and let rest for 1 minute.

Add enough dressing to generously coat the salad ingredients and mix well. Mound the salad on a plate or platter, top with the shrimp. Garnish with a few grapefruits pieces and some extra cashews and serve. 

Third Installment of My Guide to the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival

In today's third, and final installment, I preview the can't miss events for the final two days of  the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival. I have been to the fest four of the last five years, and it is by far the BEST wine & food in the country. If you have bought your tickets for this years fest, esp. after reading my first two installments, what are you waiting for my fellow foodie?

Check out my prior blogs to see how you can steer through the first two days of the fest and what parties/events are not to be missed. On Saturday, your first stop of the day has to be to Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Village featuring MasterCard Grand Tasting Tents. Be prepared to spend all day on the beach sipping wine, eating gourmet bites from hundreds of restaurants and food companies, and watching some of your favorite Food Network celebrities cooking live a the demo tent. You will likely run in to your favorite food celebs, meet some fellow foodies, and probably drink a little too much! I am always there, so if you see me say hey.

Late night on Saturday, head to the Delano hotel for the Sammy's Beach Bar Rum and Cabo Wabo Tequila present Emeril Lagasse and Sammy Hagar's Rockin' Beach Party sponsored by Del Monte Fresh Produce. After eating and drinking all day, this is a great way to dance off some of those calories, fuel yourself with a little tequila, and party the night away. All of the late night parties are great events that are full of sexy people, unexpected celebs, and great food.

On Sunday, what better way to wind down the event than with a little brunch prepared by an Iron Chef at the Pure Leaf Farm to Table Brunch presented by Whole Foods Market hosted by Geoffrey Zakarian. I'm pretty sure you won't have many chances to have an Iron Chef cook you brunch in your life, so why not end your fest with some great food and a great story to tell all your friends.

There are so many events at this years Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival that I can't possibly cover all of them on my blog, so I encourage you to head over to http://www.sobefest.com/ and check out all the events for yourself. I've had so many unforgettable experiences at the fest, and I look forward to making more this year! Check out my interviews with some Food Network celebs from last year

New Recipe: Crispy Cauliflower & Golden Beet Salad

Every Monday night on Twitter, I join the #FoodieChat community for 2 hours of action packed, food loving, tweeting paradise. If you're a member of the community you know how much fun it is meeting fellow foodies all around the world, so I highly encourage you to check it out every Monday night at 7pm CST.

The other week, I tweeted a picture of a new cauliflower salad recipe I was working on. Well one of my #FoodChat peeps asked if I could share the recipe with her, and since I am all about spreading the love to my fellow foodies, I said yes. Now that the recipe is complete, here is my Crispy Cauliflower & Golden Beet Salad w/ Creamy Lemon Dressing

After watching some Food Network and Cooking Channel a few weeks ago, I realized that I rarely eat cauliflower anymore. So I decided to make a healthy and satisfying salad featuring it, along with one of my favorite winter veggies, the beet. The salad is very easy to make and packs so much flavor and nutrition.

Crispy Cauliflower & Roasted Beet Salad w/ Creamy Lemon Dressing 

Recipe by Bobby Parrish

Serves 4 

Total active cooking time 30 minutes

1 Head of Cauliflower(any Color), cut in large bite size pieces

4 Golden or red beets

¼ Cup golden raisins or currants

1/3 Toasted walnuts

½ tspn red pepper flakes

1 Handful of pickled red onions(recipe follows)

Kosher Salt

Cracked pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil(EVOO)

For the dressing:

Zest of one lemon

Juice of half a lemon

1 tspn dijon mustard

1 Tbsp honey

1/3 cup EVOO

2 Tbsp sour cream or greek yogurt

Kosher Salt

Cracked pepper

For the pickled red onions:

1 Red onion sliced radially in thin pieces.

1 cup red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp EVOO

Kosher salt

Cracked pepper

To make onions, combine all ingredients in a bowl, and wait at least 1 hour. Keeps in fridge for 2 weeks.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Prep the beets by washing , cutting off some of the root end, and put in a shallow roasting vessel. Season with one tablespoon of EVOO, and a splash of water, cover tightly with lid or tin foil, and roast for one hour, or until a knife pierces the beets, but they still have a little resistance to them.  Let cool for 20-60 minutes.

Pre-heat a medium sized pan over medium heat, and add 3 tablespoons of EVOO. Add the cauliflower, cook for 10 minutes or until you have deep brown color on the cauliflower(turn the heat up if you’re not getting color after 5 minutes).  Add the red pepper flakes, toasted walnuts, raisins, and season with kosher salt & pepper. Turn heat off and let cool a little.

To make the dressing, add the zest, juice, mustard, honey to a bowl and whisk. Slowly add the EVOO and whisk until dressing comes together. Add the sour cream or yogurt, season with a little S&P, and whisk until creamy and dreamy.

When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel the skin off using a kitchen or paper towel, and cut into large bite sized pieces. Dress the beets with enough dressing to coat everything well, and do the same with the cauliflower mixture( it’s important to dress separately or the red beets will stain the cauliflower). Mound the cauliflower mixture on your serving plate, mix in the beets, and top with some of the pickled red onions. 

Part Two: My Preview of The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival

Today is the second installment of my preview of the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, undoubtedly the best fest in the country. With four days full of good eats, hot parties, and can't miss events, you need a guide of sorts, to spend your time(and money) wisely, that's where I come in! In this blog, I want to focus on the first two days of the event( Feb 20th & 21st), and the events I will be at, and so should you.

Right off the bat is an event I have never missed, and IMHO, one of the fest's best, Moët Hennessy's The Q presented by Creekstone Farms sponsored by MIAMI magazine hosted by Michael Symon featuring the 2014 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models. Located on the beach in front of the Delano Hotel, this ultra chic beach party is housed in a massive tent, decorated so elaborately you forget the ocean is only a few steps away. Three hours of tasting gourmet bites from over 20 Food Network and world recognized chefs, champagne & cocktails, live music, and  most importantly, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models! The people are beautiful, the food impeccable, and a night you won't soon forget.

                                             The Q 2013

                                             Curtis Stone & Live Dancers

On Feb 21st, there are a number of hot events going on(must are sold out), but one that still has a few tickets left is Fontainebleau Miami Beach presents Wine Spectator's Best of the Best sponsored by Bank of America & Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. Located in the beautiful Fontainebleau hotel, The Best of The Best offers a chance to eat some gourmet bites cooked on the spot by some of the worlds best chefs, and drink as much high end wine as one person could possible dream of. There is also an entire room dedicated to delectable desserts that would satisfy even the biggest sweet tooth! Last year I chatted up Alex Guarnaschelli while she was preparing veal cheeks, and shared a drink with Justin Warner of Next Food Network Star fame. This event is a chance to get a little dressed up, eat and drink like a king, and participate in one of the better events at #SoBeWFF.

Next week I will continue my preview of the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival with more can't miss events from the hottest fest of the year!

Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is Almost Here!

The best wine & food show in the country is right around the corner, the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival. I have attended this fest four years in a row now, and between the food celebrities, parties, demos, events, and weather, you don't need to convince me any further to leave Chicago in the middle of the winter for this foodie paradise event!

This will be the second year I am covering the event for Flavor City, last years video can be seen here, and is loaded with food network celebs, and all access footage. http://youtu.be/mzIsp165SI8

There are many wine & food shows across the country now, but here are the reasons why you NEED to be at #SoBeWFF.

The Events/Parties: These events are not just about the tasty food, you can also meet a wide variety of A-list food celebs, be dazzled by live music and an atmosphere that screams fun, and party with some of the most beautiful people you can imagine in South beach. The tickets to these events are a little pricey, but they are well worth it for the amount of bang you get for your buck.

The Food: Imagine eating gourmet bites from many of the worlds top chefs, drinking fine champagne and cocktails, and experiencing the flavors of the world in one location...well all of that is possible at many of the #SoBeWFF events. From the Burger Bash to The Q,  you can indulge in as much top tier food your belly desires.

South Beach: The weather is perfect, the people are hot, and with all the #SoBeWFF activities going on, there is no other place on earth I would rather be Feb. 20-23rd.

I will be blogging about #SoBeWFF in the coming weeks, and let you know which events are looking hot this year. Here are some photos from last year.

                                           Guy Fieri

                                           Michael Symon

                                           Jeff Mauro

New Flavor City Episode from Montreal

Last week I released a new FlavCity from Montreal, Canada. I visited there back in June 2013 and was blown away by everything the city had to offer. The food scene is second to none, and when it comes to seafood, I have NEVER had better.

I had the opportunity to meet and interview celebrity chef Chuck Huges at SoBe wine & food show last February. Not only is he a dynamite chef, but he is too funny and a great guy to hang with. I told him I was looking forward to checking out his two restaurants, Garde Manger & Le Bremner, in June, and he told me to hit him up when I was there. Both restaurants really impressed me with their atmosphere(old world hip) and food. Both restaurants take advantage of the insanely fresh seafood available to the Quebecois, and cook straightforward dishes with flavors that will sucker punch you they are so good!.

The diversity of the city is really something you need to experience. In the old port 'hood, you feel like you are transported back in time, walking down cobblestone streets and horse drawn carriages galloping alongside, and then you head latin quarter, and you so hipster dufus and freak city galore! Walking through the city you feel like you are in Europe, but with none of the jet lag. While we were there, an outdoor art & music festival were going on, and you can tell the Quebecois take advantage of the nice summertime weather bc it sure doesn't last long!

Here is the link to my Montreal Video:

New Year, New Credit Cards, and Perks Galore!

2013 was a great year in travel and food for Flavor City. After starting my online cooking and travel show back in February, I shot episodes in 3 countries, made TV appearances, and did a live cooking demo at a Chicago fest. It was incredibly rewarding to see all the hard work payoff, and to see that people connect with my passion for all things food and travel. I am working on some exciting projects for 2014(think Food Network!), and am kicking off my travels in a couple weeks with a trip to Los Angeles.

Part of the reason I am able to travel and have the food experiences I have always dreamed of, is because of the insane credit card points/miles I get just for making every day purchases. I have dedicated large parts of this blog to educate everyone on how to get airline/miles/points credit cards and take advantage of huge sign-up bonuses that can be redeemed for free travel all over the world. A prime example is the Southwest family of Credit cards. Visa offers 4-5 different Southwest business and personal cards, with sign-up bonuses of 50,000 points each. This year I got 2 of these cards(100,000 points), and spent well over $10,000, because of this, I earned something EXTREMELY valuable called the "Southwest Companion Pass." When you earn 110,000 Southwest Rapid Reward points in one calendar year, they give you the companion pass, meaning I can designate one person(my wife obviously) who can fly for FREE with me all of 2014, yes free! Whether I book my airfare with cash or redeem Rapid Reward points, my companion flies free with me all of 2014. This is a HUGE money saver considering how much I travel, and since I book most of my travel with points, it is going to save thousands of points I would have used to book a second ticket for my wife. I already used the companion pass to book free travel for my trips to Los Angelos and South Beach coming up soon.

I strong encourage you to check out the Southwest Family of Cards below, and sign up if you are in the market for a new card, with these kinds of perk, you can't afford not to!
https://creditcards.chase.com/southwest

                            My WGN TV appearance July 2013

                  My NBC TV appearance September 2013