This week’s recipe features sweet and succulent peaches, but not in a way you might expect. These elegantly simple crostini stacks are bursting with fresh summer flavor, require only a handful of ingredients, and can be prepared in minutes. Great as an appetizer or a light lunch, these slightly sweet yet delectably savory crostini stacks are a perfectly balanced summer dish.

With summer in full swing, fresh fruits and vegetables are ripe and delicious, and sweet, juicy strawberries aren’t just for desserts!  They brighten up this spinach salad and pair perfectly with crunchy candied walnuts, creamy, tangy goat’s cheese, and a beautiful homemade poppy seed dressing.  This salad is packed with a ton of bold, but complementary, flavors that will have you going back for seconds and thirds!

Breakfast in bed is a Mother’s Day classic, and an extra special way to show you really care.  This year, instead of reaching for the frying pan or waffle maker, start the day off with this bright, fresh, and lighter breakfast option that tastes as gorgeous as it looks.  Creamy, cool Greek yogurt is layered with mom’s favorite fresh fruit and topped with crunchy, maple-sweetened homemade granola and a little lemon zest for a refreshing zip.

From the flaky, melt-in-your mouth pastry to the creamy, savory filling of tangy goat cheese with sautéed leeks and fresh thyme, you’d swear this tart could have come straight from a bistro in Paris if you hadn’t just made it yourself!

If you’re tired of making the same old brownies time after time and need a new recipe to add to your dessert collection, then these white chocolate and cranberry blondies are just the thing!  They’re deliciously sweet, but because they’re made with white chocolate, the taste is lighter and more subtle than classic brownies.  And don’t forget the cranberries!  They give a fruity, slightly tart bite to counteract the richness of the white chocolate, and knowing you’re getting some of your daily dose of Vitamin E doesn’t hurt either!

Pumpkins are all around us, and there’s a chill in the air. That means Halloween is fast approaching! Short on time with all the costume making and party preparations? Never fear – this week’s recipe delivers on flavor and convenience. Whip it up in no time flat – with the help of a box mix, we confess, but you don’t have to share that little secret!

This week’s recipe: Spooktacular Spider Cookies

When we’re in a hurry to run errands, we tend to stock up on the usual suspects at the grocery store. This week, we challenge you to put something new and unexpected in your cart. And we have just the weeknight recipe to spark this change.

We love salads year-round, but especially at this time of year when so much amazing produce can be found in store. Sunset Foods’ very own Mary Kay Gill offers a spectacular weeknight salad recipe that showcases an abundance of delicious produce – some you’ll recognize and some you have probably walked past without giving it a second glance. That all changes today!

This week’s recipe: Jicama Salad with Pomegranate Lime Dressing

Blustery winter days were made for chili, and we at Sunset Foods thought it was a perfect time to share some of our favorite recipes with you.

Chili is the perfect one-pot meal. And you can whip it up with minimal slaving over the stove-especially if you have a slow cooker. What? No slow cooker? Get thee to a store, stat! The perennial favorite registry item of brides-to-be proves its worth year after year. You can throw everything into the pot, set the heat level and timer and go about your day – the slow cooker will do almost all of the work for you!

THE RECIPES:

Touchdown Beef Chili with Sour Cream and Cheddar Biscuits

White Bean Chicken Chili

Green Chili with Pork

Slow-Cooker Turkey Chili

Vegetarian Mole Chili

In recent years, soy foods have surged in popularity among health-conscious Americans. Scientists believe that soy foods, a food staple throughout Asia for centuries, may be responsible for the low rates of breast cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis in these countries. Today, a steady stream of innovative new products utilizing soy-based ingredients makes it easier than ever to enjoy the amazing benefits of this highly nutritious food.

Few foods possess the universal appeal of pizza. Although commonly regarded as an Italian invention, the dish actually dates back to ancient Greece. However, it wasn’t until 1889 when a Neapolitan man named Raffaele Esposito topped some dough with tomatoes, chopped basil and shredded mozzarella cheese that the contemporary pizza was born. Soon after, a wave of immigrants swept into America, bringing with them this Italian specialty which has grown in popularity ever since.

Pizza can be a highly nutritious lunch or dinner option which is easy dish to make at home. Pizza also comes in a diverse variety of styles including thin crust (the most popular), deep-dish, stuffed, pizza bread, pizza wrap, and even pizza-on-a-stick. Although it is fine to serve pizza with soup or salad, it is actually one of the few dishes that is a complete meal by itself.

Rigatoni with broccoli

Sometimes you’re in a hurry and need something delicious to put on the table…and fast. Now you have your go-to recipe! This flavorful and incredibly simple pasta dish can be made using ingredients you already have in your cupboards. Serve with a side dish and garlic bread, and you can’t go wrong! Your husband will think you slaved away in the kitchen for hours. Plus, it’s so yummy your kids will never know they’re eating vegetables. And with broccoli on sale this week at Sunset for 69 cents a pound, it’s inexpensive, too. So what are you waiting for?

The recipe calls for fresh Parmesan, which is obviously delicious, but if you’re in a bind some out of the shaker will work too. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound fresh broccoli florets
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 pound rigatoni pasta
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.
2. In large skillet heat oil and butter. Gently brown garlic, add broccoli and saute gently for 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth; cover and simmer until broccoli is tender.
3. Toss the broccoli mixture with the basil and cooked pasta. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on top.