Mediterranean Chicken and Vegetable Pitas

Here is a simple and delicious Pita sandwich, hearty enough for dinner.
Pick up all these healthy ingredients at Harter House and Harter House World Flavors.




















Roasted Mediterranean Chicken and Vegetable Pitas
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. The Spice Hunter Herbes de Provence*
* Herbs de Provence is an "Italian Blend" of seasonings
1 Tbsp. Granulated Garlic
¾ tsp. Coarse Black Pepper
½ tsp. kosher salt (optional)
½ tsp. Paprika
1 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds
4 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 ½ cups diced English cucumber
1 ½ cups quartered sugar plum or cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken
pita bread

Preparation:
Combine Herbes de Provence, garlic, pepper and salt in a small bowl. Measure out 1 Tbsp. of blend into another small bowl; add paprika and set aside. To remaining blend, add sesame seeds, vinegar and 2 Tbsp. of the oil. Toss with prepared vegetables in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. While vegetables are chilling, heat oven to 425°F. Place chicken in a baking dish, coat with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil and sprinkle with reserved spice blend. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked, turning about half way through cooking. Remove chicken from oven, let rest for 15 minutes, then cut into bite-size pieces. Toss chicken with vegetables and serve in pita bread.

ENJOY!

17 Ways to Prepare Extra Fruits and Veggies

I love the summer produce!  My Harter House grocery list always has a ton of produce items.  I found this article fun and motivational. ~ Shelly  

Holy Produce Proliferation! 17 Ways to Prepare Extra Fruits and Veggies When You Have a Bumper Crop

By Kim Kash

Maybe your home garden had a bumper crop, so every mixing bowl in your kitchen is full of tomatoes. Or perhaps your neighbor, who has a green thumb and a propensity for random acts of kindness, showed up at your door with enough jalapeños to bring all of Mexico City to tears. Or was it that the zucchinis at the farmer's market looked so beautiful that you got a little carried away and now don't even have room in your fridge for the milk?



Either way, it's easy for fruits and veggies to pile up come summertime. If you're ready to run screaming and leave the whole pile to rot—don't! Here are some ideas for making delicious things out of LOTS of produce.

Too Many Tomatoes

Blender tomato sauce. Fill your blender 3/4 full of cored, quartered tomatoes—should be about a half dozen or so. Throw in a few cloves of garlic, a generous handful of basil leaves, and a small onion or a small bunch of green onions or scallions. Salt and pepper to taste, and blend with a little bit of olive oil, tasting and adding up to 1/2 cup to get a smooth but not oily consistency. When you stir this into fresh, hot pasta, the sauce will warm up just enough.
Roasted tomatoes. Slice tomatoes in half or in big chunks. Arrange on one or more baking sheets. Add big handfuls of basil, cilantro, or spring onions, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes are wrinkly and soft, and herbs are completely wilted and disintegrating. Put into a bowl, and be sure to scrape all the oil and bits of herb off of the baking pan. Makes a great pasta sauce, bruschetta topping, or chunky topping for chicken, fish, or another cooked vegetable.
Tomato salad. Mix a variety of colors and types of tomatoes, throw in some herbs, and add a simple oil and vinegar dressing and a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper. Just because it's salad doesn't mean it has to have lettuce in it.
Tomato sauce. Yes, it's obvious, but this is the Cadillac^® method for using up a whole lot of tomatoes at once. Plus, tomato sauce freezes really well. There are too many recipes for us to recommend just one.

A Surplus of Summer Squash

Grilled squash. Thickly slice squash lengthwise and roast on the grill.
Summer squash bake. Slice or roughly chop a combination of summer squashes, enough to fill a baking dish. Add fresh herbs if you have them. Grate a layer of cheddar, jack, or even mozzarella on top, and use your fingers to sift a little bit of the cheese down into the vegetables. Sprinkle whole-grain breadcrumbs on top if you wish. Bake in a 350-degree oven until the vegetables are soft and the cheese is beginning to brown. Cover with foil if the cheese or breadcrumbs are browning too quickly. If the finished dish is a bit watery (some summer squashes are more watery than others when cooked), just serve with a slotted spoon.
Italian summer squash bake. Same as above, only add tomato sauce, and use mozzarella cheese.
Curried summer squash bake. Same as squash bake above, only omit the cheese and add a drained can of chickpeas, maybe some fresh greens, and 1 to 2 tablespoons curry powder to taste, depending on the quantity of squash you're baking.
Your signature summer squash bake. Are you getting the idea about this squash bake thing? Summer squash is very mild in flavor, so it plays well with both eastern and western spices. Make a squash bake whenever you need to use up zucchini plus almost any other vegetable or herb or sauce or cheese.
Grate and freeze. Use later for zucchini fritters, zucchini bread, in frittatas, as a thickener for spaghetti sauce, or a filler in any kind of vegetable bake or casserole.

Bustin' at the Seams with Basil

Pesto. Pesto. Pesto. You can use basil a few leaves at a time in Caprese salads or tomato sauce recipes. But if you need to use up a ton of basil in a hurry, pesto is what you want. Experiment with the many recipes out there—with or without cheese, with various kinds of nuts, with lots of olive oil or very little. Pesto stores beautifully in the fridge, in a tightly closed glass jar with a layer of olive oil covering it. Here's what you can do with pesto:

• Smear it on bruschetta.
• Add it to green salads as a dressing.
• Use it as a pasta sauce; this is great with cherry tomatoes tossed in.
• Use it as a sandwich spread.
• Top grilled or roasted chicken, fish, or vegetables with it.
• Eat it with a spoon out of the jar.

A Cornucopia of Cucumbers

Raita. This Indian cucumber-yogurt condiment can be thick like a dip, or thin like a sauce, depending on the thickness of the yogurt you use. Thick or thin, whip some yogurt with a whisk to even out its consistency. Then stir it into to a bowl of chopped and (optionally) peeled cucumbers. Add more or less yogurt as you wish. Salt it to taste. If you want a spicy raita, add a seeded, finely chopped hot pepper.
Cucumber water. Peel and slice one or more cucumbers and add to a pitcher of water. Squeeze in a little lemon juice, and serve very cold as a refreshing thirst quencher on a hot day.
Cucumber salad. This was on the supper table almost every summer day when my mother was a child in Kentucky. Very thinly slice cucumbers, pour a little bit of white vinegar over them, and salt. Some people also add a little sugar, but Mom would not approve. These are simple and delicious—but don't put leftovers in the fridge for next time, because as they marinate in the vinegar, they lose their crispness.

A Big Bell Pepper Buildup

Oven roast or grill. As with basil, there are plenty of recipes that call for one or a few red or yellow bell peppers. But when you have a real bell pepper glut, roasting them is the way to go. Take as many red and yellow bell peppers as you have and spread them on a hot grill, or on the top rack of the oven, set to broil. If you're using the oven, line the peppers up on the front edge of the rack, and put a baking sheet underneath them to catch drips. When the skin blackens, give them a quarter turn with a good pair of tongs, and repeat until the peppers are charred all the way around. Then remove from the oven or grill and let rest. The charred skin will peel easily off of the cooled peppers. Core and slice the now-soft roasted peppers, coat the strips with olive oil, and store in a tightly closed container. Use these in pasta and on sandwiches and bruschetta.

Excessive Eggplantery

Many recipes call for the notoriously spongy eggplant to be fried in oil. Roasting eggplant instead is much healthier, and roasting on the grill imparts a rich, smoky flavor. In addition to the recipes below, try adding roasted eggplant to casseroles and veggie burgers.
Baba ghanoush. This Middle Eastern dip is often served alongside hummus, with pita bread. Slash one or more eggplants in several places and bake on a pan in a 425-degree oven until very soft. This can take an hour or more, depending on the size of the eggplants. Cool, then peel off the skin. Throw the soft interior into a food processor. For each eggplant, add 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup of tahini, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and the juice from one lemon. Blend just until incorporated, leaving the texture a little rough. Salt to taste. To serve, make a little well on the top of the baba ghanoush and pour some olive oil into the depression. Sprinkle parsley over the top. (Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison.)
Roasted eggplant salad. Roast eggplants as above, peel and roughly chop. Serve in a large salad bowl with toasted pine nuts or walnuts, lots of parsley, and mint. If you have too many tomatoes, chop and add a few of those. Dress with either a light vinaigrette or with a bit of whipped yogurt.


Resource:

• American Heart Association: www.heart.org
• Yu Wen Li, Zhao Ya Ping, Xue Zheng, Wang Da Pu (Shanghai Jiao Tong University); Study on Synergistic Effect of Two Antioxidants and Its Anti-ageing Properties [J]; China Oils and Fats; 2002
• Haibo Wang, Muraleedharan G. Nair, Gale M. Strasburg, Yu-Chen Chang, Alden M. Booren, J. Ian Gray, and David L. DeWitt. Antioxidant and Antiinflammatory Activities of Anthocyanins and Their Aglycon, Cyanidin, from Tart Cherries. Journal of Natural Products 1999, 62 (2), pp 294-2

BBQ Shrimp Wraps

Always Start at Harter House and Harter House World Flavors for the freshest ingredients!

            How to make BBQ Shrimp Wraps

Pick your favorite BBQ sauce and marinate your shrimp for about 30 minutes.
I used Guy Fieri's Carolina #6 because it's slightly sweet and tangy

available at Harter House World Flavors! 

Pick out some fresh veggies for your wrap

Avocados, red onion, tomatoes, and lettuce made it into our wrap!

Grill up some shrimp!

We served our wraps "do it yourself" style. You can see the Feta Cheese &

roasted corn and bean salsa in the back there. Delicious toppings for the wraps.

To make the salsa;

combine roasted corn, black beans, red onion, tomato, serrano chiles, and some lime juice.

Pile the ingredients high in the middle of your wrap.

Roll it up "burrito style" and you're good to go!!

These wraps are only 317 calories!!

(We used 80 calorie wraps)

If you like lettuce wraps -- we tried it that way too.

Deliciousss

Posted by Erika 
Grad Student. Foodie. Lover of all things delicious!

It's Time for A Party

Do you feel like the season has finally changed now? 

Harter House World Flavors does!

I want to be outside, grilling and even entertaining. Here is some fun ideas for entertaining outdoors.

The key to great outdoor entertaining is making sure your guests feel just as comfortable as they would be indoors.

• Citronella candles are a must-have for warding off pests.
• Protect food by keeping it in covered containers or under a netted food dome.
• Find unique ways to serve food and beverages. Use baskets or flowerpots to hold snacks like pretzels and chips. For the buffet table, organize flatware in old-fashioned glass jars.
• Instead of hiding drinks in coolers, have them on show.
• Clean up your wheelbarrow, fill it with ice, and stock it with your favorite beverages. Or use a large tub made of tin or plastic.
• Look for unique items that you can transform into centerpieces or table decorations.
• Turn off any backyard spotlights and illuminate your party with your citronella candles, or add a little elegance by stringing lights in trees or on your patio.
• Create a more colorful setting by using fruit as part of your décor. Lemons and limes in a glass bowl or cylinder make an easy and vivid centerpiece.

Let's have a party!!! And remember for all the wonderful food your party needs visit Harter House World Flavors, or any Harter House location!

The Health Benefits of Sourdough Bread

At both Harter House locations in Springfield we sell Breadsmith Brand Sourdough Bread.

But also, at Harter House, 1500 E. Republic Road, our fresh Bakery Department also makes Sourdough Bread. I heard a customer raving about our sourdough bread and realized I had not yet tried ours.

Then, my very good friend, Maureen Hayes, Owner of Head to Toe Wellness in Ozark, told me that if I am going to eat bread, sourdough is actually the healthiest choice. So I researched a little and found this information.

(Any excuse to put bread back in my diet.)


This sourdough loaf is not presliced. So be sure to ask our bakery to slice it for you.
(No charge)




I found this info helpful to understand better about the health benefits of sourdough. There's a lot I still don't understand, but I thought I'd share:

(from http://www.angelfire.com/ab/bethsbread/WhatisSourdough.html)

The history of "sourdough" is as old as the history of leavened bread itself. Way back in ancient days (around 6,000 years ago, some say) humans first figured out how to promote the fermentation and leavening of grains to first be brewed into beverages and then, later, to be baked into bread. This probably happened by accident time after time, until someone smart figured it out.
Next our ancestors figured out how to save a portion of the fermented grains to use to "start" the fermentation of their next batch of bread. Since that time, humankind has been using and making "sourdough."

From a scientific perspective, a sourdough starter is a natural leaven - a mixture of grains and liquid (usually flour and water) inhabited by so-called "wild" yeasts and bacteria which leaven and flavor bread dough. These yeasts are the yeasts that thrive naturally on the surface of grains, fruits and vegetables, in the air and in the soil. The bacteria are certain strains of the so-called benign or "friendly" bacteria Lactobacillus, rod-shaped bacteria that can convert simple sugars into lactic and other acids.

To understand more of what a sourdough is, we need to understand what yeast is.
In simplest terms it is a plant. More specifically a fungus, a one-celled life form which digests sugars (such as those contained within the starch in flour) and produces a bit of ethanol (alcohol) and some carbon dioxide (which is what causes the bread to rise). The natural yeasts in a sourdough starter are strains of a yeast family whose scientific name is Sacchraromyces exiges. They are of the same family of yeast as commercial bakers' yeast, whose scientific name is Saccharomyces cerrivasae. The two have what might be called a distant family relationship but differ in one important way. Commercial bakers yeast cannot survive in a very acidic environment whereas natural yeast is very happy to live in such an environment. This is important because the lactobacilli in a sourdough culture produce a lot of lactic and acetic acids (which are what gives sourdough bread its flavor). The acids create an environment too acidic for commercial bakers' yeast, so only natural yeast can live with them.

In a healthy sourdough starter, yeast and lactobacilli thrive in a harmonious symbiotic relationship. This means that they do not compete for the same food and the yeast may actually help feed the lactobacilli. In turn, lactobacilli produce an acidic environment that the yeast like but which is inhospitable to other organisms. Thus the acids in the culture act as a sort of "antibiotic" so that lactobacilli contribute by providing a protective environment for the yeast.

Lactobacilli help bread rise, too. Just like yeast, they digest simple sugars found in flour and produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. In addition, the lactic and acetic acids that they produce flavor the bread with a rich complexity of flavors, sometimes giving it a sour tang.

Our Sourdough Bread made fresh at our Harter House Bakery has that wonderful "sour" taste. I think it is amazing!
I topped my sourdough bread with Plugra European Butter found at Harter House World Flavors.

Beaujolais Nouveau arrives - just in time for Thanksgiving

Beaujolais Nouveau wine has arrived at Harter House World Flavors!

At the strike of midnight on the third Thursday of every November, France erupts in massive celebration in honor of the unveiling (or should we say uncorking) of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine.

Beaujolais Nouveau, which is a young wine (only 6 weeks old) comes from a region south of Burgundy in France. It’s rumored that the light-bodied and fruity wine must be finished by Christmastime and the French government has put regulations delaying the wine’s release until the third week in November. This means the arrival of the new Beaujolais is warmly welcomed in France.

All over the country, grand traditions have developed in honor of the release of the Beaujolais, with the biggest festival taking place in Beaujeu, the capital of the Beaujolais region. This little city springs to life during this weekend in November, hosting a massive party called Sarmentelles. The party gets its name from the french word for cuttings from the canes of grapevines called sarments, which are burned in the center of town just prior to the grand midnight unveiling. Then the huge barrels are opened to much fanfare and party-goers indulge in the new wine for the festival’s 3 day duration.

Other areas in France also boisterously celebrate the arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau. Lyon hosts the Beaujolympiades (Beaujolympics), marking the release of the wine with music and fireworks followed by 2 days of sampling. In Paris, restaurants and bistros host their Beaujolais Nouveau parties, staying open through the night and uncorking hundreds of bottles after midnight.

Wherever you may be traveling in France, this is a great night to celebrate life, wine, and a grand French tradition.

Beaujolais Nouveau is made from handpicked Gamay grapes grown in the Beaujolais region of France, where the beverage accounts for half of the region's production.

While most red wines improve with age, Beaujolais Nouveau is all about freshness.

Many producers, including regional giant Georges Duboeuf, race to deliver the first of the vintage to celebrations throughout France and the world. Under French law, the wine may be released at 12:01 a.m. on the third Thursday of November, just weeks after the wine's grapes have been harvested. Fermentation is so short that the resulting wine exhibits fruity flavors and light tannins.

Beaujolais Nouveau should be consumed right away (or within a year of being made), and is best served slightly cooled. Nearly half of the wine's 70-million-bottle production is exported abroad, mainly to Japan, Germany and the United States (where it is popularly enjoyed with Thanksgiving dinner).

Tasting Notes

Generous notes of strawberry and black currant dominate the nose, with silky tannins that bring smoothness to the palate. The long finish has subtle touches of sweet Griottine cherry.

Pick up your celebration bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau at Harter House Supermarkets.

 

Martha's Vineyard - Walking Tour - Day 1

I took notes along the way on this tour.  I am Shelly.  I am attending a Grocers Getaway with 3 others from our business, Harter House Supermarket. My notes are hand written, at times in my own form of shorthand.  So I had to rewite my notes in order to retain them as accurately as possible.  And I looked up spellings of things I wasn't too sure of.  But I hope you enjoy it.  I enjoyed providing and sharing it with you.

Oct. 8, 2012
WALKING TOUR

We start our "Walking Tour" with Mike at the Edgartown Paper Store which he either owns or works at.  He starts talking as we walk down the street.  We take a path walkway between two houses.  There we find a park.  At least 6-8 houses back up to the park with no fences.  It's very nice.  We stay here for a bit while he gives us some history of the area.

This is the largest island on the east coast that you can drive to (by ferry).

The Noepe Tribe lived here for 10,000 years.  It was known as "Land of the Waters."

 

An English explorer in 1602 came to this area looking for sassafras to cure illnesses back in England.  He wanted to claim the land for Europe.  They found fresh water and what they thought were grapes.  This explorer had a mother and a daughter, both named Martha.  So he named the island Martha's Vineyard.

About 40 years later the Mayhew family settled.  There are still Mayhews living on the island today.

In 1642, Thomas Mayhew Sr. came to Martha's Vineyard.  As the English came, the Indians went "up-island", settling near Aquinnah.  .   The Wampanoag Tribe is 800 strong today and still living in that area. 



Edgartown area was, at that time, called "Great Harbor"

1671 - Thirty years later, Great Harbor wanted to be incorporated with England.  They asked for the name Edgartown after the three year old prince Edgar that would someday be king.    With their incorporation came a letter thanking them for paying their respects to the late prince.  This is the only Edgartown in the world.

In the late 1700's the men went on whaling expeditions.  They would be gone weeks, months, even years at a time.  The captains lived in Edgartown in the early 1800's.  Whaling boomed from 1830 to 1865, until whale oil was no longer needed due to the discovery of petroleum.  Edgartown then became a ghost town.

 

 

 

 

County of Dukes

County Court House

 

Ted Kennedy was arraigned here,

but never convicted of anything.

The Town Hall was first a Methodist Church.  Later it was the Fire Department. 
It sits atop a hill so it was downhill to get to any fire.  Then it became the town theater. 
Now it's the Town Hall.

 

 

1843 to 1847 - The Old Whaling Church, a huge Methodist church, was built.  The Clock Tower was dedicated to Captain Peaze.  Captain Peaze died before the church was finished being built. 

It has 120 pews and holds 850 people.  Today it is non-denominational and sometimes serves as the Performing Arts Building.  It is also, second only to Las Vegas, as the most popular place for weddings.

 

We continue to walk to the Vincent house.  Built in 1677, it is the oldest house on the island. Vincent's lived in the house until 1970.   In 1970 the house was moved to this location, next to the Old Whaling Church and Dr. Fisher's house, from the center of the island.  It is the oldest unaltered structure and is currently a museum. 




 

Dr. Fisher's house was built in the 1840's. Dr. Daniel Fisher practiced medicine in Edgartown. In 1829, he married Grace C. Coffin. She was the daughter of a wealthy whaling-ship owner. Dr. Fisher soon discovered that there was more money to be made in whaling than in making house calls. He built a whale-oil refinery, a spermaceti candle factory, a bakery to supply hard-tack biscuits to whalers and an up-island mill to grind hard-tack flour. He was founder and president of the island's first bank.

"Coffin" is another known name on the island.

 

Mike said, "He was very well respected, the most handsome, the most rich."

 

Personally, I don't see it.

"One story says when he died he donated half his wealth to the town to start a preservation society.  The other half was to be split between his wife and his mistress.  His mistress would be wearing a scarlet red dress at his funeral."

Many scarlet red dressed showed up, 6-7 ladies."

 

 

 

 

As we continue to walk,

Mike points out the original granite curbing dating back to 1868.

 

Martha's Vineyard is known for the black and green shutters and the 3 foot tall white picket fences. 

Mikes points out anchors in the street where they used to hitch horses.

 

The building with 4 pillars was a church, now it is a residence.

 

 

 

The Vineyard Gazette is the oldest newspaper on the island.
It is still active today.

 A whale oil burning chandelier hangs in The Federated Church, built 1825-28, by Frederick Bales, Jr. 

When it was built, there was a long open field in front of it, an entire block back to main street. 


 

The Mayhew Family owned all the water front property. 

A grandson to Captain Peaze lived in the house across the street, with the red door. 

On the waterfront, across the street,  is 2 lovely homes with a vacant lot between them. 

Captain Peaze, the grandson, said, "if anyone builds anything on that land, blocking my view of the ocean, the structure will burn down."   They built anyway and the structure did burn down.  It is said that Captain Peaze watched it burn. 

After his death, another structure started to go up and, when it was almost finished, it too burned.  So today, it is a beautiful area of open land.   

Herman Melville, who wrote the book Moby Dick, also stayed at this house, with Captain Peaze, while he was writing Moby Dick.  It is said that Captain Peaze, the grandson, is the inspiration for the character Ahab.

 

Thomas Mayhew, Sr. is buried in the front yard of this next house.

 

 

 

 

This huge tree is a Little Leaf Linden Tree.

 

 

Mike is still narrating our tour;

The first wave of tourism was in Oak Bluffs in the 1860's .The Oak Bluff Cottages are there. 
8 years later, people were coming and building homes.
(We will visit here later today)


In the late 1960's, business and tourism was very slow. That's when Paramount Pictures asked if they could film the movie Jaws here, about a shark terrorizing paradise.  It was the summer of 1974.  City planners were hesitant, but it proved to resurrect this area. 

In 1974 three thousand people visited the area.  In 1976 thirty thousand people visited. 

The movie crew incorporated many residents and even crew as extras.  The movie's screen writer is coming out the door of The Gazette. 

This is the house that served as The Gazette.

Looking through a window we see a plaque for Amity National Bank.  Mike offers a "Jaws" tour as well.

1908 - Oak Bluffs was founded.

1969-74 - the area became known for the incident that happened on the island of Chappaquiddick.

This area has always had a reputation of being the playground for the rich.

 

Debris, from John F. Kennedy Jr's airplane, was found on Gay Head Beach.  Most ship wrecks are off of Gay Head.
(We will visit here tomorrow)

Many famous people have owned property or still live here. Walter Cronkite, Meg Ryan, Larry David, James Taylor and Carly Simon.  Jim and John Belushi. John is buried on the island.  John now owns the house that was Jim's, overlooking the islands only nude beach. 

There's not much crime here. 

There are fresh water ponds all over the island.

This concludes our tour. 

Next we visit the book store and have lunch at The Newes From America Restaurant.
Wonderful!

 

By Shelly Kauffman
Harter House Supermarkets
Springfield, MO