Welcome to the new "Crush on You" series!
I should confess that, thanks to eat drink RI, I had a slight crush on Easy Entertaining, Inc. before I stepped through the doors of their gorgeous Café (located at 166 Valley Street). If you're anything like me, you voraciously read eat drink RI's "Upcoming Events" list each week and daydream of a better world- a world in which you're able to attend every event. I first noticed Easy Entertaining's cooking classes on that list last year, and I've been admiring the company from afar ever since (thanks, Facebook!). Three weeks ago the stars finally aligned, and I was able to attend one of their classes. The topic? Healthy Weeknight Summer Meals.
Easy Entertaining Café's decor and design alone were crush-worthy. The tables were topped with simple flower arrangements and the large windows let in tons of great ambient light. The space felt both comfortable and upscale at the same time. It quickly became clear that there was much more to admire about this company than its good looks, though. They're one of Rhode Island's premier farm to fork establishments. With an ethos built around sustainability, I was digging their message and values too. Add to that some delicious food served up in a friendly and informative manner, and I was positively giddy by the time I exited their Café doors!
Our host for the evening was Easy Entertaining's Sous Chef, Ashley, and she was assisted by Chef Marlon. I hadn't been able to register in advance since I only learned of the event that afternoon, but both Ashely and Marlon did a great job of seamlessly adding me into the fold. Eight of us sat at the counter surrounding the makeshift demo kitchen they had created. The classes at Easy Entertaining are BYO, so we opened our bottles of wine and chatted amongst ourselves while Ashley prepared to start the class. The women next to me had been to an Easy Entertaining class before, and were raving about the onion chopping skills they had picked up. So, Ashley was kind enough to teach the rest of us the tricks of the onion chopping trade before diving into the first recipe of the evening.
Ashley covered three recipes over the course of about an hour. She started with a Quick Split Pea Soup with Ham Hock. My dad always makes split pea soup the Monday after Easter, but Easy Entertaining's version was ready in a lot less time and tasted much lighter. "Quick" doesn't mean instant, however. The soup Ashley whipped up in front of us needed to simmer for about 1.5 to 2 hours, so the soup that we sampled was one that had been started by Marlon earlier that afternoon. Next Ashley showed us how to toss together a tasty pasta dish composed of shrimp and zucchini. The flavors were simple and well balanced; it was a delicious meal that we all agreed would impress friends despite being delightfully simple to prepare. The final recipe of the night was one for scrumptious Chicken and Zucchini Burgers- and it's that burger recipe that I'd like to share with you below. Guilt free burgers that pack a hidden vegetable punch?! Yup. That's crush-worthy!
Before we get to the recipe, I want to share a few of the practical tips and tricks that I picked up during the class.
1. A "Take your soup from ordinary to Yay!" tip: each time you add a vegetable to the oil, add a little salt and pepper to help build on the caramelization.
2. If you accidentally over-salt a meal, add a little lemon; or if you've used too much lemon, add a dash of salt.
3. A microplane makes an excellent garlic grating tool. (I bought one a few days later and love it!)
I should confess that, thanks to eat drink RI, I had a slight crush on Easy Entertaining, Inc. before I stepped through the doors of their gorgeous Café (located at 166 Valley Street). If you're anything like me, you voraciously read eat drink RI's "Upcoming Events" list each week and daydream of a better world- a world in which you're able to attend every event. I first noticed Easy Entertaining's cooking classes on that list last year, and I've been admiring the company from afar ever since (thanks, Facebook!). Three weeks ago the stars finally aligned, and I was able to attend one of their classes. The topic? Healthy Weeknight Summer Meals.
Easy Entertaining Café's decor and design alone were crush-worthy. The tables were topped with simple flower arrangements and the large windows let in tons of great ambient light. The space felt both comfortable and upscale at the same time. It quickly became clear that there was much more to admire about this company than its good looks, though. They're one of Rhode Island's premier farm to fork establishments. With an ethos built around sustainability, I was digging their message and values too. Add to that some delicious food served up in a friendly and informative manner, and I was positively giddy by the time I exited their Café doors!
Our host for the evening was Easy Entertaining's Sous Chef, Ashley, and she was assisted by Chef Marlon. I hadn't been able to register in advance since I only learned of the event that afternoon, but both Ashely and Marlon did a great job of seamlessly adding me into the fold. Eight of us sat at the counter surrounding the makeshift demo kitchen they had created. The classes at Easy Entertaining are BYO, so we opened our bottles of wine and chatted amongst ourselves while Ashley prepared to start the class. The women next to me had been to an Easy Entertaining class before, and were raving about the onion chopping skills they had picked up. So, Ashley was kind enough to teach the rest of us the tricks of the onion chopping trade before diving into the first recipe of the evening.
Ashley covered three recipes over the course of about an hour. She started with a Quick Split Pea Soup with Ham Hock. My dad always makes split pea soup the Monday after Easter, but Easy Entertaining's version was ready in a lot less time and tasted much lighter. "Quick" doesn't mean instant, however. The soup Ashley whipped up in front of us needed to simmer for about 1.5 to 2 hours, so the soup that we sampled was one that had been started by Marlon earlier that afternoon. Next Ashley showed us how to toss together a tasty pasta dish composed of shrimp and zucchini. The flavors were simple and well balanced; it was a delicious meal that we all agreed would impress friends despite being delightfully simple to prepare. The final recipe of the night was one for scrumptious Chicken and Zucchini Burgers- and it's that burger recipe that I'd like to share with you below. Guilt free burgers that pack a hidden vegetable punch?! Yup. That's crush-worthy!
Before we get to the recipe, I want to share a few of the practical tips and tricks that I picked up during the class.
1. A "Take your soup from ordinary to Yay!" tip: each time you add a vegetable to the oil, add a little salt and pepper to help build on the caramelization.
2. If you accidentally over-salt a meal, add a little lemon; or if you've used too much lemon, add a dash of salt.
3. A microplane makes an excellent garlic grating tool. (I bought one a few days later and love it!)
Thanks, Easy Entertaining, for a great evening of food education! I look forward to attending more classes in the future.
Chicken and Zucchini Burgers
Servings: 5 burgers Serving Size: 1 burger Points Plus*: 3 pts(Easy Entertaining's recipe, mildly adapted)
Ingredients
1 lb Ground Chicken, extra lean1 small Zucchini, grated
1/4 cup Seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs
1 clove Garlic, grated
1/8 cup Green onion, chopped
Dash of salt and pepper
Oil spray
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the chicken, zucchini, breadcrumbs, garlic, green onion, salt and pepper.
Heat a large skillet on high heat. Make five equal patties. When the skillet is hot, lightly spray with oil. Add the burgers to the pan, and reduce the heat to low. Cook on one side until browned, the flip. Flip over a few times to prevent from burning, and make sure the burgers are cooked all the way through. I cooked the burgers for about 6-7 minutes on each side.
Serving Suggestion: I topped a couple of the burgers with cheese in the final two minutes of cooking. Yum!
These burgers freeze beautifully. Seal a few of the cooled, cooked burgers in sandwich bags and pop them into the freezer so that you'll have them on hand when your next burger craving strikes.
*PointsPlus values calculated using the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers website
