(music). Right now, Olga kicks off the show with some
culinary delights. We are starting our first show of the new
year in the kitchen with some yummy healthy soups and salads, perfect for our waistlines.
And our first guest of the new year, fortunately for me, is a fabulous chef. He is A.J. Shepler,
Culinary Chef and Food Scientist from Rothbury Farms. Good morning.
Good morning. Happy New Year! And to you. Any new year resolutions?
Eat healthier, stay fit… And be happy.
Exactly. I love that. And I love to eat. I know you,
too. You've been a chef for how long? I was reading your bio.
Over 10 years. Over 10 years? Wow, you're awfully young.
Good food, good people. That'll do that to you. That's why we got into it.
Say, "Thanks Mom and Dad!" Thanks Mom and Dad.
(Laughter). And thank you for bringing my favorite soup,
considering I am Cuban. He brought a black bean soup. Now, you add something a little
bit different than I do. So, take it away. Tell me what you did.
Okay. So, to aim to please you and all the Cubans out there.
Love that. A little roasted cumin, roasted garlic, chicken
stock. Pureed some of them down, kept some of the black beans whole. And then from here
you really get to customize it. You get to add the crunch of some croutons in there.
Croutons? Croutons. Got to keep it crunchy. And then
instead of sour cream, keeping it healthy again. Non-fat greek yogurt. It adds that
little bit of twang to it, but also you get that nice creaminess from it.
And I don't want to be selfish, but I know you gave me a little bit.
Before hand. I gotta take care of you. I know. But you don't have any croutons here
for me. I'm sorry. What would you like?
Those are fine. You want the season? Okay.
Yes. It does add a little crunch, which is nice. A little pizazz, right?
A little bit. You gotta keep your food interesting. Absolutely.
Nobody likes boring food. (laughter).
Nobody likes boring. Mmm!
So, we've got some green onion to go on top of this. We've got a little tomato. Alright,
I'll finish it off with some cilantro, keep those good Cuban flavors rolling.
And let me tell you, the black bean soup is great, but even that little crouton in there
adds that nice little crunch. A little bit goes a long way to break it up.
What do you have here? We've got a hot asparagus soup with some chicken
broth in it to get some protein in it, and it's topped with some parmesan Romano croutons.
French bread. Taste, please. Mmm!
Fresh bread. All of our croutons are made using fresh bread.
I can taste the parmesan, too. Nice.
A little bit of Romano? I love it!
Awesome. Next to it, we've got some Texas Toast croutons.
Texas Toast croutons! Did them in a nice little pancetta tomato
salad. So, more croutons, more tomatoes, really liven it up with a nice red wine vinaigrette.
And I do have to note for my wonderful people in Texas. These are bigger.
Hey, they're bigger than the rest of them out here.
Everything in Texas is bigger, they say. That's right.
And that crunch is bigger. Mmm! Fabulous!
Gotta accentuate the crunch. Mmm! That's the best. Okay, this soup?
Chilled Gazpacho accented with some basil, cucumbers, and then it's just got the seasonal
croutons on it as well. Alright, that's this one?
That's that one. You're just double dipping. You got a little
bit of both. I love that one. Okay. And the last one?
And then a nice spinach and mixed green salad with avocado, and punch it up with those good
fats that you want for that new year. Keep that resolution going and some organic whole
wheat croutons as well. Okay. What am I missing here?
You're missing croutons. I'm missing croutons. What I love about it
is, you know, at least for my kids they love when I make salad and when I make soups, adding
these croutons will just make it funner, crunchier, and just better.
And they're baked. They're not fried, so you're not getting all those unnecessary calories
in them. Zero grams of transfat. A little bit in moderation, you're set to go and it
makes a world of difference. Mmm! This salad is great.
Awesome. Alright, so I know you have four croutons
out here. We do.
But you have other flavors, right? We've got the French Bread line with the parmesan
ramano leading off the season. There are a bunch of other flavors with that, and then
organic fat free. We've got a whole slew of them.
And now, I know you've used soups here and salads. But you can really do much more with
these croutons, right? You can. You could do breadings, you could
do a bread pudding, you can do stuffing…The applications are endless.
Sky's the limit. It is.
Alright, can I tell you which is my favorite? I mean, they're all great. But can I tell
you which is my favorite? Everybody's got a favorite.
Oh my gosh. I gotta go with Texas. Nice. It's the crunch, isn't it?
Oh! Fabulous! I'm hearing it. I love it.
I'm sure my mic is picking it up, too. And for our viewers out there that would like
to see these recipes, and I know you offer more on the website?
Every month we're putting new stuff up, RothburyFarms.com, and we're on Facebook, Twitter. You can find
us just about anywhere. RothburyFarms.com. Thank you so much. Happy
New Year. Happy New Year.
And you're coming back again to bring more recipes soon, right?
We are. We're coming back a couple times. You're always welcome in my kitchen.
Nice. Thank you so much, sir. And for more information,
of course, on these tasty recipes with a little (bites) crunch on the side, go to RothburyFarms.com
or TheBalancingAct.com.(music).