Dietz's award-winning zucchini and chickpea salad
Only one person has won in two categories of the Pennsylvania “Simply Delicious, Simply Nutritious” Vegetable Recipe Contest Cook-Off in the same year — and this year, she has done it again.
Frances Dietz of York County is the undisputed champion of the contest. She nailed the judges’ criteria — flavor, creativity and ease of preparation — in her recipes, all the result of experimentation.
“I think I was born with some kind of compulsion to always either create my own recipe or doctor up an existing one,” she said. “I have this need to add my touch to everything. It’s a disease.”
That “disease” has made her a winner. Dietz took the crown in the recipe contest’s Melon/Cucumber and Summer Squash/Zucchini categories. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing and Research Program, this was the competition’s ninth year. It is meant to cultivate new and creative recipes for Pennsylvania vegetables.
Dietz got inspiration for one of her award-winning recipes from a different state. Her “Asian Cucumber Salad” draws from four months spent in Hawaii, mixing Asian flavor with crisp textures. Her “Zucchini and Chickpea Salad” was created from a determination to use chickpeas. “I think they’re an underused food,” she said.
Here are four tips Dietz offered to help you become an award-winning cook:
1. Cook a lot. “The more you cook, the more you learn about what works and what doesn’t work and the role of ingredients within a recipe,” she said. “That enables you to leave recipes behind.”
2. Follow directions the first time. “The first time you make a recipe, it’s best to follow it precisely so you know how it turns out, what it looks like and all that,” Dietz said. After that, you can get creative and change things up.
3. Know cooking basics. It’s important for people to understand why a recipe says to do things. A prime example is oven placement. There’s a reason cookies are not supposed to go on the bottom rack of the oven: they get a hard bottom. Pizza crust, however, excels there. Another example is dark and light pans. A dark pan keeps heat in and can turn the sides of a dish brown. A lighter pan reflects the heat away and is great for cakes. A pie is best in a dark pan.
4. Keep your mistakes. “Don’t be too quick to throw out your failures, because they might be able to be resurrected and have a second life,” Dietz said. Â
DETAILS:
Want to participate in next year’s contest? Break out the mixing bowls and get experimenting, because we have a sneak peek at the categories: Snap Beans/Lima Beans/Peas, Sweet Corn, Broccoli/Cabbage/Cauliflower and Leafy Greens (including spinach and lettuce). For more information, visit
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The Recipes Â
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Asian Cucumber Salad Â
Melon/Cucumber Category Winner Â
Serves: 8 Â
Ingredients
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons grated ginger root
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 gourmet seedless cucumber, thinly sliced, not pared
4 green onions, thinly sliced
6 red radishes, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
8 ounces lump crab meat or cooked and peeled shrimp, optional Â
How to prepare
Make dressing by combining rice vinegar, ginger root, salt, pepper, honey and sesame oil. Add the cucumber, green onions and radishes. Toss ingredients and allow to stand in refrigerator 10 minutes for flavors to blend. Divide salad among bowls and garnish each with toasted sesame seeds. NOTE: If using crab or shrimp, it should be added to salad just before serving.
— Submitted by Frances Dietz of York Â
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Zucchini and Chickpea Salad Â
Summer Squash/Zucchini Category Winner Â
Serves: 9 to 10 Â
Ingredients
19-ounce can chickpeas, drained
1 small red onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil, extra virgin preferred
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium tomato, diced
10 kalamata olives, halved and pitted
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (peppercorn feta preferred) Â
How to prepare
Combine all ingredients except feta cheese; let stand at least 30 minutes for flavors to blend. Just before serving, add cheese and stir to blend. Best served at room temperature.
— Submitted by Frances Dietz of York Â
Â
Garden Gate Chunky Greek Salad Â
Tomatoes/Peppers/Eggplant Category Winner Â
Serves: 6 Â
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup Red Shale chardonnay (Hegins Valley Winery)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 pint red cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 pint yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup scrubbed and thinly sliced long fresh carrots
1 1/2 cups cucumbers, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 cup red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup yellow pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 green onions, cut and chopped into small slices
1/2 cup pitted and coarsely chopped or sliced kalamata olives,
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh leaf parsley
1/2 head Romaine lettuce, whole leaves, rinsed, and dried on paper towel
1 cup crumbled feta cheese Â
How to prepare
In a large serving bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, chardonnay, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, red, yellow and green peppers, green onions, kalamata olives, mint leaves and parsley.
Toss until evenly mixed. Cover and refrigerate up to six hours.
When ready to serve, prepare salad bowl with the whole leaves of Romaine lettuce placed in a circular pattern. Gently add salad and sprinkle with the crumbled feta cheese.
— Submitted by Mary-Ellen Miller of Orwigsburg Â
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"Snappy" Pumpkin Custard Cups Â
Winter Squash/Pumpkin Category Winner Â
Serves: 8 Â
Instructions
2 large eggs
1 heaping tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Ginger snap cookies, crushed
Cool Whip topping Â
How to prepare
Beat eggs well. Add sugar and flour and mix well.
Add pumpkin, milk and cinnamon. Pour into individual-sized ramekins and place on a cookie sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 325 degrees and bake another 10 minutes until set.
Remove from oven and allow to cool. Top with finely crumbled ginger snap cookies and a dollop of whipped topping.
— Submitted by Teresa DeVono of Red Lion Â
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