With this versatile spread, you can
transform an otherwise bland food. Photo
by Emily Chang | THE NIBBLE.

A bit too thin to be viewed as a traditional dip, Sonoma Farm California Asiago & Parmesan Dip is really a sauce. Name aside, we can’t nitpick about the flavor, which is pleasantly pungent with herbs in the finish.

Made from only Parmesan and Asiago cheeses, extra virgin olive oil and spices, it has the consistency of a pesto. You can use it like a pesto too: Top a dish of pasta with a couple of spoonfuls (like pesto, a little goes a long way!) and enjoy.

The label suggests dipping crackers and raw veggies, but we spread it on some thick, crusty bread as well as atop grilled chicken breasts. Then:

• Dress a sandwich by adding some of the dip into a dollop of mayo.
• Baste fish or shrimp.
• Spread atop a steak.
• Spoon some into scrambled eggs.
• Make a white pizza: Substitute the dip for the sauce on pizza and top with veggies such as zucchini, artichoke and eggplant and top with shredded mozzarella.

Here’s a spin on a Caprese sandwich that’s perfect for a summer picnic: Slice a ciabatta roll (or other Italian bread) and spread a tablespoon of Sonoma Farms Asiago & Parmesan Dip onto the top half. Add slices of mozzarella, a few sliced tomatoes and some basil leaves before taking your first delicious bite.

Purchase the dip at SonomaFarm.com. You’ll want to buy extra for gifts and stocking stuffers. At $7.99 per 8-ounce jar, it may seem pricey. But there’s a lot of expensive cheese in each jar, and a little goes a long way.

Check out more great spreads in our Salsa, Dips & Spreads Section.

If the last new salad item you discovered was radicchio, you’re behind the times.

The Wild Rocket Zest mix from Fresh Express can show you what you’re missing.

One of the two new seasonal blends from Fresh Express, the two newest blends are:

 
Don’t be confused: rocket is the British word for what we call arugula. Other names include colewort, rucola, rucoli, rugula, roquette and salad rocket.

The greens are grown by artisan growers in “America’s Salad Bowl,” Salinas Valley, California (which, as readers of John Steinbeck will recall, is some 20 miles northeast of Monterey). They are often referred to as microgreens.

For those who have grown up on bland iceberg or romaine covered in dressing to add taste, it’s eye-opening to see how much flavor is added by amaranth, mizuna, red mustard, rocket/arugula and other “artisan greens.” The next time you’re at the market, pick up something you haven’t tried before and give it a shot.

By the way, there are four main categories or classifications of lettuce:

 
Rotate them in your (hopefully) daily salad.
  

Buy refill bags instead of new canisters.
Photo courtesy TayTea.com.

The problem is, if you’re a regular tea drinker, you can end up with quite a lot of small metal canisters. At some point, you run out of ways to repurpose them and start throwing them away.

But metal doesn’t decompose in landfills. Bullets that are almost usable are still found in Revolutionary War and Civil War battlefields. Archaeologists and construction workers around the world routinely pull ancient metal artifacts from the ground that have been there for millennia.

What are environmentally-conscious tea-drinkers to do if they don’t live in communities with recycling programs?

They’re a better choice (and less expensive, too) than purchasing a new can. If you already have a stash of canisters, you can refill them and give them as small gifts to tea-loving friends.

If your favorite tea company doesn’t offer refills, send them a note via the website’s contact form.

Send a cake! Bake Me A Wish is in the business of making people happy by delivering a tasty cake with a chocolate medallion greeting on the cake, as well as a separate card.

There’s Boston cream cake, brownie cake, carrot cake, chocolate mousse cake, peanut butter mousse cake, red velvet cake and more. The cake arrives in a festive gold and brown striped box.

We sampled two cakes from Bake Me A Wish: Vanilla Bean Cake and Tiramisu Classico Cake. The vanilla bean cake was spot-on, with cream cheese filling. But we missed the traditional soaking of coffee liqueur in the Tiramisu Cake. Something called “tiramisu” and “classico” should have the liqueur as well as the ladyfingers—two ingredients that define tiramisu. We’d suggest making another choice.

Who wouldn’t like to receive a chocolate
mousse cake? Photo courtesy BakeMeAWish.com.

The company is a good citizen, contributing 5% of sales of particular cakes to worthy nonprofit organizations.

Just eat it! No cooking required.
Photo by Zeeshan Qureshi | SXC.

Yet, we haven’t done a post on the joys of raw corn. We were recently reminded of that via an email from The Kitchenista, one of our favorite NIBBLE writers and a great cooking teacher (learn step-by-step cooking techniques at TheKitchenista.com).

Cut the raw kernels right off the cob for a sweet and crunchy addition to many dishes (and yes, you can eat it raw from the cob when it’s fresh-picked and so sweetly seductive).

Raw corn is crunchier than cooked corn: When cooked, the starchy stiffness breaks down.

• Add the raw kernels to salads
• Sprinkle them on other vegetables and grains
• Toss them onto a white pizza
• Garnish soup, hors d’oeuvre and dinner plates
• Top (or mix in to) plain yogurt

Let us know your own ideas.

NOTE: Don’t pull back the husk and silk when buying corn. It usually doesn’t tell you anything and starts to dry out the corn, even if you plan to use it later that day. If you don’t buy that ear, you’re leaving it to dry out for the next person.

How To Cut Corn From The Cob

1. Remove the husk and stringy corn silk from the ears: Just pull down and yank them off. If you’re having problems removing the strings of silk, try a slightly damp paper towel with a downward motion.

2. Hold the ear upright in a medium or large bowl. With a large knife, cut downward along one side of the cob to remove the kernels, using a back-and-forth, saw-like motion. Take your time and cut as close to the cob as you can.

3. Rotate the cob and repeat until you’ve removed all the kernels. Use the leftover cobs to make corn stock—we’ll post the recipe as tomorrow’s Tip Of The Day.

If you think you’ll be removing corn from the cob on a regular basis, there are gadgets called corn cutters or shuckers that help people who don’t have great knife skills. The best one we’ve used is this Corn Zipper from Kuhn Rikon. It’s a curved blade that zips right down the curve of the cob and makes the job easy.