STAR Fine Foods Review

Look at all these goodies STAR Fine Foods sent me...

I haven't even begun to try all of these beauties yet, but I'll give you a little rundown about each:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Omega-3 DHA: Derived from a sustainable and vegetarian source of DHA, 2 servings provides 25% of the daily recommended value (200mg) of DHA Omega 3. This can be used any way you'd use EVOO, but with an added health boost. Woot!

Family Reserve Olive Oil with Fresh Rosemary: I'm really excited to try this one-I can think of so many ways to use rosemary infused olive oil (I'm thinking chicken....pizza....oh yeah.)
Usage Pairing Olive Oils: Like wine, these olive oils are particularly well suited for particular types of dishes. They have one for vegetables, one for poultry/fish, and one for beef/lamb-each specially complementing their dish.
Creamy Balsamic Glazes: We were given the raspberry and apple varieties, and Michael has been loving them on his salads!
Grapeseed Oil: This was briefly discussed on Wednesday-essentially it is the only oil I want to use in any kind of frying from now on (with a smoke point of 485 degrees, grapeseed oil has a lower risk of burning and splattering). It's an extremely versatile oil, with very minimal flavor or aroma-and can be substituted for canola or vegetable oil in most recipes. PLUS it's low saturated fat level means it doesn't solidify when refrigerated so it's great for salad dressings, sauces, and marinades (and you can use it in baking as well)! (Added bonus-it's actually a byproduct of grapes after wine production, so environmentally friendly!) And the health benefits--

• Carbohydrate and sodium free
• Cholesterol free
• No Trans Fat
• Low in saturated fats
• No added preservatives, flavorings or colorings
• High in oleic acid and essential fatty acids
• High in polyunsaturated fat, with about 72% linoleic acid (Omega 6) that has the greatest affect on increasing the level of HDL (good cholesterol) and reducing the level of LDL (bad cholesterol)
• High in naturally occurring antioxidants
• Contains vitamin E and A

Butter Flavored Olive Oil: And this one I mentioned on Monday. Butter flavored olive oil gives you the delicious flavor of butter with all the health benefits of olive oil-a small way to cut back on saturated fats, sodium, and cholesterol. I've tried olive oil in baked goods before and I couldn't get around the taste-I'm a butter girl, what can I say? So this is PERFECT for me-you can use the butter flavored olive oil in baked goods (duh), pasta, potatoes, popcorn, seafood, rice, corn, toast...etc etc. Just make sure to use this handy conversion chart:

Moral of the story-STAR has the coolest stuff (they have more products that aren't even listed on this post!). And I am a lucky lady to get to have so much to use!

Disclaimer: I was provided with product from STAR Fine Foods to try, but I was under no obligation to review if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product. My opinions, as always, are all my own.

Making lemonade!

I'm not actually making lemonade. But I AM taking these "lemons" and making lemonade in the form of this version of oil pasta.

This was my lunch yesterday, and today. I used whole wheat linguine this time (something I'd been nervous to try-turns out tastes just as good! So I'll probably use that from now on), and put some of the cut up chicken breast from my botched attempt at delish.com's Chicken alla Milanese in it. A thoroughly lovely meal! Oh, and yesterday I made some extra insane brownies. I'll share those with you later ;).

(Note: I don't advise trying to make that recipe from delish.com, I think it may have been wrong. 1 cup of parsley just does not seem right, as my poor chicken can attest.)

Linguine con aglio e olio d'oliva

I have been eating what my family calls "oil pasta" for as long as I can remember, from Christmas Eve's Feast of the Seven Fishes with all of my Grandpa Blogna's family, to learning things to cook for when I moved out to NYC . It's a recipe I learned from my mom, who learned it from my dad's mom, who learned it from grandpa's mom (my great-grandma Helen Blogna-maiden name Porrini). I don't even have this recipe written down anywhere, I just know how to make it-so bear with me on this recipe. It's basically just linguine with olive oil that is cooked with garlic-it's Italian name is linguine con aglio e olio d'oliva (linguine with garlic and olive oil). It is extremely good, easy to make, and goes great with a lot of different things, or used in different variations. And-BONUS-it makes my hands smell like garlic!

Linguine con aglio e olio d'oliva "Oil Pasta"