Summer Salad Winner # 2: Roasted Vegetable & Orzo Salad

We’ve been having a blast this summer sifting through all of the awesome customer submitted salad recipes and today we’re sharing the recipe of our most recent winner! Kristi Gumm introduced us to her Roasted Vegetable and Orzo Salad and we couldn’t be more thankful. This fresh from the garden salad is as delicious as it is easy to fix and the kind of salad you’ll make again and again! Read on for the recipe and some extra info from Kristi.

Roasted Vegetable & Orzo Salad

This is my favorite summer salad that I make all the time.  I take it to pool parties or we make it at home and have it for dinner. It’s a great way to use vegetables from the garden and is really healthy.  Hearty, but light at the same time.  I make it from scratch and have never followed a recipe, so these are all approximate.  You know how that goes!

Slice and roast 2 of each of these vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper:  yellow squash, zucchini, red pepper, green pepper and purple onion cut (cut onion into chuncks and shallots also work well)

Cook and drain 1 pound Orzo pasta.  Rinse with cold water until cold.

Toss roasted vegetables with orzo.
Make balsamic vinaigrette and pour over orzo and vegetables.
Top with lots of fresh chopped basil and freshly grated parmesean cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste if needed.

Ingredients for vinaigrette
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
can add small amount of brown sugar and/or minced garlic

A big thanks to Kristi for submitting such a fantastic recipe! Remember, we’re still accepting salad recipes through the end of August so be sure to email your recipes to me at genna@chefsmarket.com for your chance to win dinner passes to Chef’s Market and have your salad featured in our restaurant.

Genna

What’s Happening at Chef’s Market

With July winding down, we’re getting ready to roll into August, but not before we finish off the month with a few more fabulous weddings! We’ll also be choosing another salad winner and serving up a fantastic feast at the restaurant this weekend. Get all of the details below!

Thursday, July 28th: We’re catering a plated dinner at Ocean Way Studios tonight and working with Destination Nashville to pull it all off. We’ve got a seriously delicious menu, including Pear & Pomegranate Salad, Bronzed Filet Mignon and Orange & Mango Panna Cotta…YUM!

Friday, July 29th: We’ll be announcing our newest Summer Salad Contest Winner and trust us it’s going to be sooo good! We don’t want to give away the winner’s name and recipe just yet, but follow us on Facebook and you’ll get all the inside info tomorrow!

Friday/Saturday July 29th/30th: Chef Kathy’s back from her vacation and she’s cooking up a Caribbean themed weekend menu for our customers…you can expect to see her famous black bean encrusted Sea Bass among other tasty entrées!

Saturday, July 30th: We have three weddings this weekend, including one at the Parthenon…such a unique, beautiful and distinctly Nashville wedding venue!

If you’re around this weekend be  sure to come by Chef’s Market for lunch, dinner or coffee & dessert. We’d love to see you!

Genna

Chef’s Market’s Staff’s Summer Food Favorites!

One of our favorite things about summertime is the amount of fresh from the garden fruits and veggies that are readily available. We love the warm, rich comfort foods of fall and winter but during the hot summer months, there’s nothing like ripe tomatoes and juicy watermelon to cool you off! So with this in mind, we asked the Chef’s Market Staff to share their favorite seasonal summer foods with our blog readers…here’s what they said!

Patty (Accountant/Office Manager): Lemon Icebox Pie

Courtney (Corporate Sales): Grilled Veggies, especially eggplant, and crisp, sweet watermelon

Jim (Owner): Macerated Peaches

photo via examiner.com

Amanda (Sous Chef): Fried Green Tomatoes

Debbie (Office Administration): Macaroni Tuna Salad served with Classic Potato Chips.

Cheryl (Owner): Vanilla Ice Cream topped with fresh sliced strawberries or peaches

And my personal favorite??? It’s a tie between Bruschetta and homemade Tomatillo Salsa. What’s your favorite summer food?!

Genna

Ingredients For a Sweet Southern Summer

It’s the perfect time to get a little creative with all those sweet drinks we sip on during the long hot months between June and September and with so many fresh ingredients available right now it’s easy to take traditional tea or lemonade and make it even tastier!

Cute beverage table we created for Miranda Lambert & Blake Shelton's engagement party in June 2010

At Chef’s Market we’re constantly infusing lemonade, tea and ice water with different flavors for beverage stations at weddings and events and with the temperatures climbing this week we thought it would be a great day to fill you in on what we do and how you can make our refreshing drinks at home!

Lavender/Lemon Water: This super refreshing spin on ice water is perfect for hot summer days and beyond easy to make! Simply prepare a pouch for the lavender and lemon using a square of cheese cloth tied with a string and steep in water for 1 hour. Next, pour the flavored water over ice and serve. Garnish with lemon wheels and lavender.

Our famous Tango Mint Fruit Tea

Rosemary Peach Tea & Basil Mango Lemonade: Much like the flavored water, infusing tea and lemonade with flavor is all about steeping the herbs in the same water/sugar mixture that will be used to create the rest of the beverage.  After steeping for 1 hour continue to prepare tea/lemonade as you normally would.

Tango Mint Fruit Tea: This is by far our most popular drink at Chef’s Market. Both restaurant customers and our catering clients love it…I’m actually drinking a glass as I write this! The secret recipe was given to Jim by a close friend who had gotten it from his aunt,  Joann Tomlin, who owned ‘The Tea Room’ in Nashville for many years and also ran the tea room at Cheekwood. We feel so honored to carry on her recipe at Chef’s!

We love serving our homemade beverages in large apothecary jars like these. They make for a great beverage display and you can easily create cute ribbon signage to tie around each jar! Whether you infuse your drinks with fresh herbs or fruit be sure to also use them as a garnish for the finishing touch!

Have you ever tried doing this at home or are you planning on putting together a cute beverage table at your wedding reception? Let us know!

Genna

Summer Entertaining with Talk of the Town & Madison Creek Farms – Part Two

Yesterday we started off the recap of our Talk of the Town segment with plenty of pretty flowers and food shots…today you get to see the complete package!! We had so much fun putting this all together, a big thanks to Kathy Best of Front Porch Farms for loaning us her seriously gorgeous vintage plates and if you’re loving the Chiavari Bar Stools and summery golden chair ties be sure to contact Liberty Party Rental, they’re seriously awesome to work with!

Beautiful vintage plates from Kathy Best at Front Porch Farms!

Our ‘Beets & Greens’ salad featured during the segment

A great shot of the entire setup

Filming the segment at Madison Creek Farms

Have a happy Thursday and be sure to call or email us if you have any upcoming catering needs!

Ph (615) 851-2433

Email: catering@chefsmarket.com

Genna

*All photos taken by Mary Hagy*

Summer Entertaining with Talk of the Town & Madison Creek Farms – Part One

Last month we had the opportunity to create an outdoor summer tablescape for Talk of the Town and of course given the fact that we were teaming up with Madison Creek Farms we knew it was going to be gorgeous! The farm’s natural beauty had us immediately imagining a ‘dinner in the fields’ idea. Something, rustic,  chic, vintage and a little whimsical. We wanted to create the kind of setting that calls for lengthy dinners, good company and great food. Today we’re giving you a look at the food and flowers while tomorrow is all about the finished product and vintage touches, so be sure to stay tuned!

A sweet welcome sign from Peggy!

We created a family style dinner service with fresh salads and entrées that would be perfect for an outdoor dinner, like our Berry Berry Salad and roasted Pork Loin pictured above.

Beautiful farm flowers were a perfect touch to the look of the tablescape. A HUGE thanks to Peggy for creating all of the flower arrangements!

Check back tomorrow for part two on our set up at Madison Creek Farms along with a behind the scenes look at filming for Talk of the Town!

Genna

 *All photos taken by Mary Hagy*

Chef’s Market’s Customer Inspired Summer Salad Contest

There’s always that one recipe that makes it really feel like summer, maybe it’s a family favorite, a signature salad you’ve perfected over the years or one that’s just plain delicious…whatever that salad is for you we want to know!

It’s no secret that we love fresh salads at Chef’s Market and this summer we’re going on a quest to discover some new original recipes that we hope will turn into old favorites in no time! There’s just one catch…we need your help!! Interested?! Get all the details below!

We’re looking for customers to submit their favorite summer salad recipes to us via email for a chance to win two dinner passes to Chef’s Market and have their salad featured in our restaurant! Chef Kathy will choose the winning recipes and over the next two months we’ll rotate new customer inspired salads throughout our menu!

So, if you’ve got a summer salad recipe that you think will be a big hit at Chef’s email it to me at genna@chefsmarket.com. Include your name, contact information, recipe and a little inside info on why you love  the recipe you’re submitting to us. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Genna

What’s Happening at Chef’s Market

With the big Fourth of July weekend just around the corner we’re busy preparing for weddings, sunshine and of course a FREE giveaway for all of our awesome Facebook and blog fans! So, before you pack up the car for the long weekend ahead and make that ‘last’ trip to the grocery store, take a minute to check out the latest happenings around our restaurant and catering kitchen, trust us, you won’t be disappointed!

photo via simplystated.realsimple.com

Don’t forget to grab a bag of our homemade tortilla chips and spinach queso dip for all your weekend pool parties and get togethers!

Thursday, June 30th: We’re doing a small event at CMT tonight and we’ll be serving everything from homemade flatbread pizzas to Lasagna Cupcakes…so good!

Thursday, June 30th: HGTV will be filming a segment for their TV show ‘My First Place’ at Chef’s Market tonight! The film crew will be setting up around 4pm and filming will last from 5-8, so if you’re in the area be sure to stop in!

Friday/Saturday, July 1st and 2nd: We’re giving away FREE Mini Pecan Pies all weekend in honor of the Fourth of July! Come by and pick up your free dessert!

Saturday, July 2nd: We’ve got everything from modern, to vintage chic weddings this weekend, which means there will be plenty of pretty goodness happening all around Nashville! Full menu and photo recaps will be on the blog as soon as possible!

What are your plans for the Fourth of July?!

PS, if you’re in need of  some fun and fruity cocktail recipes like the ones in the above picture click here for all the details!

Genna

What’s Happening at Chef’s Market

Happy first week of summer everyone! Although Tennessee summers can be brutal as far as the heat and humidity are concerned, they also bring us beautiful weddings and of course, we love a good wedding at Chef’s Market! So, with an upcoming weekend that’s sure to be packed with pretty, we thought it would be a great idea to fill you in on all the happenings around the shop…including a BIG wedding that we couldn’t be more excited for!

Tuesday, June 21st – We had the opportunity to present our catering services at Vanderbilt this week along with several other great Nashville catering companies. We had so much fun putting together the display and the menu, which included Applewood Bacon wrapped Halibut and Mini Savory Herb Waffles with TN Cheese Straw Chicken Bites & Red Pepper Jelly. We’ll have a full post on the event and the fabulous food soon!

Thursday, June 23rd – We had a packed house for lunch today with three separate groups in to enjoy our food along with our regular lunch crowd! Chef Kathy did an AWESOME  job making sure all the food was spectacular. Don’t forget to call us for any upcoming birthday/anniversary/graduation parties, baby/bridal showers, group luncheons and more. Our dining room is the perfect spot for everything from a lunch for twenty to an intimate dinner for two.

Friday/Saturday, June 24  & 25th – You’ll have to wait until tomorrow for our full weekend menu, but here’s a sneak peek: Chicken Bruschetta stuffed with Rosemary Pork and Feta Cheese…YUM! We hope you’ll be stopping by for dinner!

Saturday, June 25th – We have two weddings this Saturday, including the wedding of Financial Guru Dave Ramsey’s Daughter! We’re thrilled to be putting together her wedding and can’t wait to share all the details!

What are your weekend plans?!

Genna

Summer Dessert Ideas

After a long week of weddings and events it’s time for us to get back to blogging and what better way than to share some of our favorite dessert ideas for summer! Whether you’re snuggling up around the campfire or relaxing poolside, these classic treats are guaranteed to make your summer even sweeter!

photo via tasteofhome.com

S’mores – There’s something so nostalgic about this summertime sweet and we love it not just because it brings out the kid in us, but because it’s so simple! If you’re having a big backyard party we suggest setting up a S’mores station for guests to grab their own ingredients and mix and match with different kinds of graham crackers & chocolate. This is also a super cute idea for a late night snack at an outdoor wedding reception! Check out this recent blog post by Eat My Wedding for more inspiration!

Mini Pies – Fresh berries and homemade pie crust might just make up the ultimate summer dessert staple and when turned into mini versions they’re also perfect for party favors! Your guests will have a blast choosing between different pie  flavors and with so many fresh ingredients to choose from your options are endless!

Chef's Market's Mini Pies Photographed by Ace Photography

Build Your Own Ice Cream Station – Ice Cream obviously tops the list of summer favorites which is why creating a ‘build your own’ version complete with different kinds of cones, toppings and flavors will have your guests rushing the dessert table as if it were the neighborhood ice cream truck! We love this cute ice cream bar created by Amy Moss of Eat Drink Chic!

Home made Popsicles – The best way to cool down your guests on a hot day besides a fresh cocktail? Grown up Popsicles! Make your own at home, like this DIY treat from S0mewhere Splendid, or purchase them to cut down on prep time. If you’re in Nashville be sure to stop by Las Paletas, a gourmet Popsicle shop. Flavor combinations like Strawberry Lime and Honeydew will leave your guests more than satisfied!

Las Paletas Popsicles via tnhomeandfarm.com

P.S. If you’re a bride looking for fun dessert inspiration these are all fantastic ideas that your guests will remember long after that last sweet bite!

What’s your favorite summer treat?

Genna