Cooks ShowCreativity With Canned Veggies (NAPSA)—A growing number of cooks are getting creative with canned vegetables. That’s what the makers of a major brand of canned mixed vegetables discovered during their first recipe contest, when cooks across the U.S. were invited to use the popular pantry staple Veg-All to add a new twist to a home cooked favorite. The result? More than 1,400 different ideas on how to add convenience and nutrition to family favorites old and new. According to home economist and contest judge Judith Stadler, cooks often turn to canned vegetables for convenience, but rarely for creative inspiration. “The winning recipes show that letting creativity out of the can has some surprising and tantalizing results,” Stadler notes. The contest’s grand-prize winning recipe, Greek Style VegeAll Salad with Lemon Pepper Dressing, brings the point home. You can give it or one of the contest’s other winning recipes a try the next time you want to do some out-of-the-can cooking. Greek Style Veg-All Salad with Lemon Pepper Dressing —Barbara Lento, Aliquippa, PA 14 cup pine nuts 3 cups water '% cup uncookedorzo pasta 1 can (15 oz.) Veg-All Original Mixed Vegetables, drained l cup red pepper, diced 1 cup green pepper, diced ' cup crumbled feta cheese 14 cup black olives, quartered 2 scallions (or green onions), thinly sliced 1 tsp. whole cumin seeds 14 tsp. dried dill weed Lettuce wy Greek Style Salad with Lemon Pepper Dressing won the Grand Prize in a cooking contest. Dressing: 14 cup olive oil 1 Thsp. lemon juice 1 tsp. lemon pepper lb tsp. salt Garnish: 1 medium cucumber, peeled andsliced 10-20 grape tomatoes Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake pine nuts for 4 minutes; set aside. In 3 cups boiling water, cook orzo pasta for 9 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Let stand in strainer. In small mixing bowl, mix all ingredients for dressing; set aside. In large salad bowl, toss all ingredients for salad, except lettuce. Add dressing; mix well. Serve on bed of lettuce and garnish with cucumber slices and grape tomatoes. Servings: 6 Prep time: 20 minutes For more winning recipes using creativity and canned mixed vegetables, visit www.vegall.com.
