Dole California Cookoff

This June I was invited by Dole Foods to be a part of a cookoff  in Los Angeles. An all expenses paid trip to L.A. in one of the coolest hotels around, a rental car, and spending money…how could I say no??  Five recipe finalists battled it out to get their recipes on the back of Dole products and win $1000.o0! Five food bloggers were invited to cook alongside and help the recipe finalists.  I was beyond excited to be invited by Dole to participate in this event.

this is legit!

After the official greeting from Dole employees as well as celebrity chef, Ben Ford, we were paired off and got to cooking.  Of course I was ecstatic when I got paired with Laura who had the bacon wrapped scallops…gotta love cookin up some bacon!  The five dishes to battle for the big win were: pineapple glazed bacon wrapped scallops with pineapple macadamia nut quinoa, ginger mandarin orange rice with cashew tofu, orange and avocado crowed black Thai grilled chicken thighs, turkey and pineapple infused stuffed peppers, and mandarin chicken burger. 

This was my favorite, thought she would win for sure!

The winning dish!

these were yummy!!

the cilantro mayo was awesome on this burger

After careful contemplation by Iron Chef competitor and famed chef,  Ben Ford, a winner was chosen; Janice Elder and her chicken thighs took the prize!!  Next on the agenda was cosuming the copious amounts of food we had prepared.  However, eating the meal came about two hours after the food was completed so everything was cold

Dole in the house!

Besides the five competing dishes, each team also made a side dish if you will, to add to our dinner.  Laura and I made an “angel lush” cake and boy was it delicious! I’ll be posting the recipe later on in this post.  Since I’ve been home from this trip I have already made it twice for my family because they love it so much. 

This was the first annual cook-off for Dole.  I found it super fun, entertaining, interesting, educational and I couldn’t have been happier to be a part of it.  If there is any constructive criticism I could give it would be one simple suggestion; have the event next year in a larger space so the dining area can be already set up.  That way food can be eaten when it is still hot or even somewhat warm.  I was super excited to try all of the dishes, which were all hot entrees, but having them cold, two hours later was a little disappointing to the taste buds.  However, even despite the cold food, this event was a major hit and I know we all had a great day together with Dole and Ben Ford!

Angel Lush Cake

1 angel food cake (I recommend the sour cream angel food cake found at Kroger/Fry’s/Ralph stores)

1- 3.4 oz package of instant vanilla pudding

1- can Dole crushed pineapple

1 cup cool whip

Mix dry pudding mix and can of pineapple (undrained) together.  Do not add milk to the pudding, simply use the dry powder.  Carefully fold in the cool whip.  Cut your angel food cake into three layers and add pineapple mixture between each layer.  Refrigerate.