I'm amazed at how superior your vanilla is!
– Des, The Grommet
Menu
The following two recipes make light, healthy and delicious appetizers for warm spring and summer brunches, lunches and suppers.
Ricotta cheese naturally has a slight graininess to it. You can leave it as it is for a nice rustic texture or you can place it in a bowl and use an immersion blender or put it in a food processor and blend it briefly to homogenize it and make it very light. This is especially nice for the sweetened version for fruits.
Feel free to play with the recipes, adding different or additional herbs or spices.
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut in chiffonade ribbons
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1 teaspoon dill or thyme (optional)
Zest of 1 lemon plus large splash of lemon juice
1 –2 tablespoons fruity olive oil
3 drops Rain’s Choice pure Vanilla Extract
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Whisk together ricotta and herbs. Blend balance of ingredients with olive oil and stir until well blended.
Arrange trimmed green and yellow beans, baby summer squash slices cut on the bias, baby carrots, English cucumbers cut in thin spears, red bell pepper spears, carrots and celery sticks, snap peas — whatever you wish — on a platter. Serve thin, crisp crackers on a separate plate.
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1 – 2 tablespoons Rain’s Choice Vanilla Sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
dusting of freshly ground nutmeg
Mix all ingredients together and sprinkle top with freshly ground nutmeg.
Serve with strawberries, slices of fresh apples, peaches, nectarines , plums, cherries and melons. On a separate plate serve lightly sweetened cookies or biscuits.
I was given a small bottle of Rain’s Choice in a gift basket and I have been hooked ever since. The flavor makes all of my baking so much better! I will never use grocery store vanilla again!
