I love having this grilled shrimp recipe as an easy stand-by because it takes a few minutes to prepare and tastes fantastic. I followed my Best Grilled Shrimp recipe exactly except for the oil: I used peanut oil rather than olive oil in this dish because I served these shrimp with Asian-influenced side dishes.

Try my Best Grilled Shrimp… and let me know what you think.

I served this with an avocado salad and Mushrooms and Bok Choy in Black Garlic Sauce.

Enjoy.

I couldn’t resist- I had to buy some of this black garlic and see it (or should I say TASTE it) for myself. Where do you buy black garlic? Lucky me- I live in Boulder and have Savory Spice Shop in town. That’s where I went…

According to Savory Spice Shop’s label, “Black garlic has a rich, almost demi-glaze like flavor that finishes with the sweetness of figs and the undertone of garlic.”

I tried a sliver of a clove on its own and I would say that description is very fitting. It is very “umami” and I’m going to keep that in mind when cooking with it.

I’ll add some links with my latest Black Garlic creations.

I think the title of this blog post says it all: Fresh Strawberries with Candied Orange Peel in Tangerine Fig Balsamic. That’s all it is.

I am very pleased that Rudi’s Organic Bakery– a small Boulder bread-maker that became a national organic bread supplier- now offers a gluten-free sandwich bread from Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery. Their catch phrase says it all: “Gluten-free doesn’t have to mean bread free.”

I was invited to celebrate the launch of this great new gluten-free bread at Root Down in Denver. Rudi’s and Root Down put together a fantastic gluten-free meal for me and some fellow food bloggers, and we all got to taste this new bread for ourselves.

The first dish was fantastic. Rocky Mountain Ford Cantaloupe and Tomato Gazpacho served with Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery Tomato Jam Grilled Cheese. I could have eaten a few of those sandwiches… so good. Good thing they gave us the recipe. I’m sure to post again on this grilled cheese sandwich.

Next I had a roasted beet salad, which was a lot prettier than what I plate at home!

The Pan-Seared, Line Caught Halibut with Black Quinoa and Grilled Corn was some of the best fish I’ve had in a long time. Root Down gets their halibut flown in fresh from Alaska, and at this point I’d say it’s worth going to Root Down just to have some halibut. Delicious.

The dessert, Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery Bread Pudding with Sour Cream Ice Cream, truly showcased Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bread. I was completely fooled into thinking this bread pudding was made with regular bread. Root Down and Rudi’s graciously shared this recipe with me and I will re-create it and post it here soon.

So, thanks to Root Down for serving one of the best meals I’ve had in Denver. And thanks to Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery for baking such a great gluten-free product that will be widely available for gluten-free eaters across the country.

I LOVE bread. Sometimes it feels like a weakness, especially when I bite into a warm, crusty, freshly baked bread. Something takes over me and I just can’t stop! bite after bite after bite.

So, since I’m trying to make as much from scratch as possible, I decided it was time to take a bread making class. I am so fortunate here in boulder to have the Culinary School of the Rockies in town. They offered a two-day, 10 hour Rustic Bread class and I jumped on the opportunity to have a hands-on lesson from a bread-making pro.

That is exactly what I got. I will keep blogging about my bread making. But, first I need to eat all of the bread I got to take home!