I was recently contacted by a Crisco representative about their new Mediterranean Inspirations Recipe and Essay Contest. I learned that from January 17 through March 18, Crisco is inviting home cooks to submit their favorite recipes at GetInspiredwithCrisco.com in the Crisco Mediterranean Inspirations Recipe and Essay Contest for the chance to win a trip for two to Italy. They are looking for recipes that use one of the three Crisco Olive Oil varieties: Crisco 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Crisco Pure Olive Oil or Crisco Light Olive Oil; plus, two ingredients commonly used in Mediterranean-style cooking, including tomatoes, garlic, olives, pasta, yogurt, legumes, fresh herbs, lentils or cheese.
I was intrigued by this contest since I love Mediterranean cuisine. I am always cooking with olive oil, artichokes, pasta, tomatoes, herbs and cheese. In fact, here are some of my favorite Mediterranean-style recipes in case you are looking for inspiration: Artichoke Lasagna, Artichoke Rosemary Pizza, Caprese Summer Pasta, Artichoke-Lemon Pesto, Perfect Pesto, Orange Olive Oil Pine Nut Cake
To entice you to enter their most excellent contest, (I mean seriously, why wouldn’t you enter this contest, you could go to ITALY!!!), Crisco is generously providing a prize pack for one of my readers. Entry requirements are below.
The best part about this prize pack is that it is incredibly generous and contains all that you need to feel like you are cooking in the Mediterranean even before you’ve even arrived.
The prize pack contains:
1. One set of 4 gorgeous pasta bowls from Williams-Sonoma (pictured above)
2. A set of 3 Crisco oils, all of which you can use in your everyday cooking
3. Salt Pig from Crate & Barrel (pictured above)
4. Herb Scissors from Crate & Barrel
5. Bamboo Spoon from Crate & Barrel
6. Grown Your Own Pesto kit for growing basil and herbs to make your own pesto
7. A pack of fabulous recipe cards for great Mediternean dishes to make at home.
To Enter to Win the Prize Pack:
1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite Mediterranean inspired food.
2. Sign up for The Naptime Chef Newsletter (upper left corner of this screen)
3. Become a fan of The Naptime Chef on Facebook.
4. Contest runs from January 21st at 9:30pm ET through January 31st at 11:59pm ET.
5. Winner will be chosen using Random.org.
I’m already a fan and a newsletter subscriber, of course!
I love Mediterranean cuisine! I love to make pizzas, pastas, and even North African dishes like couscous. But my favorite dish is probably a perfect Caprese salad, made with heirloom, tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh mozzerella, a drizzle of fruity olive oil, some sweet Balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper.
I love HUMMUS! With some fresh tomatoes and good fresh pita… so simple but sooo tasty. Thanks, Maureen
I’m a fan of the Naptime Chef on Facebook. Thanks, Maureen (jnomaxx at hotmail dot com)
I get Naptime Chef’s newsletters. Thanks, Maureen (jnomaxx at hotmail dot com)
Hi, Kelsey. I love Mediterranean food, but one of my favorite recipes (mostly because it is easy and pizza) is a white pizza I like to make with roasted garlic, prosciutto, ricotta, and artichokes. I use store-bought pizza crust and top with mozzarella cheese. It’s really a delicious pizza– the salty prosciutto really makes it. Yum!
Balsamic barbecue chicken and Roman summer salad (olives, capers, garlic, anchovies, etc., & balsamic reduction over vine ripened tomatoes ). It’s wonderful anytime of year, but the perfect summer meal! Maybe I should make it this week to remind me of summer meals alfresco – as I look out onto our 8 ft snow
banks ;-).
( I’m already a FB fan and get the newsletter – love your blog!)
any fresh pasta! Yum!
And I’m a fan on facebook!
Hi There ~ My husband and I always went out to our fav. rest. before we had a family and it was Greek! We fell in love with Moussaka! To this day we still love to eat it, the diff. is we’re making it ourselves and our 16 & 14 yr. old daughters help us make it!
~ This is a great ‘ Giveaway ‘ you’re offering!! Thank-You!
I’m also already a FAN of The Naptime Chef : )
Brenda Y.
I love hummus!! Just signed up for your newsletter and became a fan of your FB page. Thanks!
Can we go as simple as Greek salad? There’s nothing like it in summer when the tomatoes and cucumbers are fresh and local, and no comparison between that version and what passes for Greek salad in most restaurants.
I’m already a fan on Facebook and just signed up for the newsletter!
I haven’t had a chance to make this myself but when we’re at an Italian restaurant, and Cioppino is on the menu, I always get it! I’m actually kind of afraid to try to make this, mostly because I live in North Dakota and it’s hard to get GOOD seafood up here.
I get your newsletters and I’m a fan on FB…that’s how I found out about the contest! 🙂
Hmmm. I just used Crisco today to make two batches of Highland Scones for my dinner club. I’m working on Scotch pies right now.
After a trip to Greece last summer, I’ve tried to recreate the amazing roasted eggplant dish we ate pretty much every day we were there. No luck… I do not know how they made it. One element that might be lacking is that I am too cheap to use half a bottle of olive oil on each dish the way they did!
roasted eggplant with olive oil, and Italian herbs. Just can’t get enough of it.
I love Greek food. When I lived in Indy I used to eat a Chicken Sandwich from this awesome greek restaurant. It was so yummy, olive oil, garlic, chicken, olives, feta cheese and pita slices!!
sugardipes1 at aol dot com
Signed up for the newsletter
sugardipes1 at aol dot com
Fan of Naptime Chef on FB (Sarah P N)
sugardipes1 at aol dot com
Fan on Facebook!
I subscribe to your newsletter
I love a Greek salad with really good Greek dressing and lots of feta cheese.
I am signed up for your newsletter.
I love a good Greek salad.
I signed up for your newsletter and liked your page.
I would be so excited to win this amazing prize package! I have followed your blog since seeing you on WKTV. Can’t wait for your book; I love the flavors of Mediterranean foods- and swear by a spice mix I get from Symeon’s, its great on chicken/seafood/pasta!
That is so cool @kippi22, I am glad that we “met” on WKTV. Hope you are staying warm upstate! (brrrr!)
Anything with tomatoes, artichokes, and mushroomst and or feta cheese! I get the rss feed and liked on facebook
I’ve become a fan and a subscriber! My favorite Med. dishes include pesto from the Liguria region of Italy, spread over fresh gnocchi. I love olives as well… a thick papardelle pasta with fresh olives and tomatoes will do me in every time!
I love pasta with tomatoes and olives!
I love couscous because I can jazz it up so many different ways….I can go sweet with fruit and and an orange viniagriette…or I can use veggies and herbs with and tangy dressing for a savory taste!!
I love warming pocketless pitas on my indoor grill and brushing with olive oil and sprinkling with feta cheese. So yummy.
I make a yummy shrimp saganaki. Your site is great!
Hard to choose one mediterranean inspired food. Since it’s been so cold I’ve made a couple of yummy soups. Pasta e fagioli and minestrone are my favorites right now. I also made a yummy pasta alla norma last week. It has roasted eggplant, tomatoes, and ricotta salata.
I love hummus and warm pitas.
Julie (at) thelittlekitchen (dot) net
I’m pretty easy (and just learning to cook thanks in help to your website and videos) but I have to say my fav med meal would be hummus!
I like you on fb now.
Julie (at) thelittlekitchen (dot) net
Oh, what a fun contest! My favorite Mediterranean dish is dolmades. I haven’t had the guts to try making them myself yet, but I may have to try soon.
I have serious thing for Mediterranean food. If I could only eat one thing the rest of my life, it would be Italian or Greek food. I’m especially fond of grilled octopus salad, but that’s a total restaurant dish. No tentacles in my kitchen!
I like you on facebook.
I love all kinds of pasta, so hard to choose!
Love making homemade hummus and pesto!
I love hummus with a spicy pepper relish. Kabobs with dill sauce are also high on the list. Yum–I’m getting hungry!
Our family loves Greek Gyro’s with Tzatziki Sauce ~ Souvlaki ~ dolmades ~ a wonderful Greek Salad. Oh my goodness it’s 5:00 AM and my mouth is watering :0)
Kelsey, I’m glad to see your post – missed you! Worried you had disappeared in a snow bank!!
I love egglant and meat involtini.
I love osso bucco made with marinara suce- had it in Florence on honeymoon- yum
I love making pasta with pesto, green beans and potatoes, so many people have never tried it, but it’s a classic Italian dish and delicious!!
I already get your newsletter, that’s how I saw the contest =)
I am also a facebook fan.
I get your newsletter and am a FB fan! I’m a huge fan of this Mediterranean chicken dish a local restaurant called Meritage makes..artichokes, Greek olives, capers with fresh tomatoes in a lemon sauce…SO yummy!!!
does wine, cheese, and olives count as a meal???
minestrone is great for a winter meal!
fan of newsletter and fb
I love the earthy flavors of Mediterranean cooking along with how filling and satisfying the dishes are. THANKS for the great giveaway!
shawneeh at yahoo.com
I’m a subscriber of your newsletter.
I’m a facebook fan!
Mediterranean Restaurants are very popular in my area – especially Lebanese. I love Chicken Schwarma, Gyros and Fattouch Salad, while my teenagers could eat their weight in Hummus.
susitravl(at)gmail(dot)com
Like you on Facebook
And I’m a newsletter subscriber.
We have a Tuscan style kitchen and these Pasta Bowls and the
other fab goodies in this giveaway are fabulous! One of my
favorite Mediterranean dishes is “Greek-Style Penne with Fresh Tomatoes, Feta and Dill!”
Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
We have a Tuscan style kitchen and these Pasta Bowls and the
other fab goodies in this giveaway are fabulous! One of my
favorite Mediterranean dishes is “Greek-Style Penne with Fresh Tomatoes, Feta and Dill!”
Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I am a subscriber to The Naptime Chef Newsletter…
Again, many thanks for the great giveaway opportunity!
Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
Also, I am a fan of The Naptime Chef on Facebook!
Merci, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I subscribe to the Naptime Chef Newsletter and I’m a fan on facebook.
I really love a simple summer pasta dish that involves just a few ingredients — pasta topped with a ‘sauce’ made just of fresh chopped raw tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme, salt and pepper. Top it with ricotta salata and this definitely a favorite when tomatoes are in season!
Already signed up for Newsletter, And fanned on facebook.
I love fresh baked pitas with grilled chicken, with feta, romain lettace, eggplant, home grown tomatoes, fresh diced cucumbers, garlic, olives and sweet Balsamic vinegar dressing.
I love pasta with tomato/onion/ginger/ curry sauce.. It is an Indian version of the marinara!
my favorite is pasta tossed with olive oil, & fresh tomatoes & basil. Super simple, super tasty
new facebook fan