Join us for a Super Bowl Twitter Party!

Looking for some delicious Super Bowl Party recipes? Have a question to ask Sabra Executive Chef MaryDawn Wright?  Then don't miss our Super Bowl Twitter Party on February 2 from 8-9pm EST!

@Sabra will host a party for all their fans on Twitter!  You can follow the conversation with hashtag #SabraBowl.  We'll discuss entertaining tips, delicious new recipes, and give away a Sabra prize pack to three lucky winners!

Have questions for the Sabra Chef about recipes or your game day table? Leave your questions as comments on this post, and Chef MaryDawn will answer during the party!

We hope to see you there!

News from Sabra - Introducing Season's Finest Hummus

Sabra Dipping Company, the country’s leading hummus manufacturer, today announced it has released its first ever limited edition hummus for the holiday season. Made with only the finest premium ingredients, the Rosemary, Olive Oil and Sea Salt flavor of Season’s Finest hummus has all the deliciousness of Sabra’s smooth Classic hummus with a special festive touch.

The task of choosing Sabra’s first ever limited edition hummus fell upon the 2011 Sabra Tastemaker panel, a group of influential bloggers, food lovers, and thought leaders who provide feedback to the company. Through a blind taste test, the panel determined that the Rosemary, Olive Oil and Sea Salt hummus was the most delicious and appropriate for the holiday season.

“We’re proud to introduce this special edition hummus just in time for holiday entertaining,” said Ken Kunze, Chief Marketing Officer for Sabra Dipping Company.  “We review feedback from our consumers, and are excited about letting our Tastemaker panel represent them and choose this new flavor for the market.  The robust and creamy blend is really delicious. ”

Featuring a specially designed metallic foil packaging, Season’s Finest hummus comes table-ready from the grocery store. The hummus’s label features a seasonal design, making it perfect to serve at parties and family gatherings, or as the ideal holiday hostess gift.

Season’s Finest hummus can be found in the 17oz size at grocery stores in the Pacific Northwest, New England and New York metro area, and in the 25 oz size at Sam’s Clubs nationwide through early January.  All varieties of Sabra Hummus are gluten free and certified kosher.

For more information about Sabra’s new products, please visit www.sabra.com.  

The Benefits of Meal Planning - a guest post from Sabra Tastemaker Diane Carbonell

I’m so happy that the wonderful people at Sabra asked me to write an article for them, as I love being a Sabra Tastemaker and I love Sabra products.

I wanted to share with you the importance of meal planning in my own journey to lose 158 pounds, as well as share a little bit about how having healthy ingredients on hand can help you get a nutritious meal on the table in just a few minutes. 

When I was first married (over 24 years ago) I never planned the first thing for dinner. Almost every night without fail I’d ask John where he was taking me out for dinner. He’d laugh and off we’d go to whatever restaurant struck our fancy. I’d order the biggest thing on the menu and then pick the dessert that best suited my mood at the moment.

After I began having children I did get a little better with meal planning, but there were still many nights when we went out to dinner. My problem during that time of my life was that I wasn’t trying to plan healthy meals. Instead I just planned on cooking whatever sounded good to me, whether it was fried chicken or corn dogs.

As I began losing weight, meal planning took on a whole new importance. Now I was planning meals to avoid going out to eat, to feed myself and my family wholesome food, and lose weight. I wasn’t perfect at getting it all right, but I gradually got better and better. 

After I reached my goal weight I didn’t fall back into my old “restaurant most nights of the week” habit. Instead, I continued with my meal planning routines. Why? Because I didn’t want to gain my weight back, and I wanted to continue to feed my family meals they enjoyed and were good for them.

Now 13 years later, I still plan meals and snacks. I plan my meals the night before I go grocery shopping. I make one new meal a week, three vegetarian meals and three family staples. Planning the night before gives me plenty of time to think about what I want to make. I take into account what family activities we have each evening. 

I believe in flexibility with meal planning. This is where products like Sabra hummus, low-sodium beans, healthy salsa, tortillas, pre-cooked chicken tenders, frozen stir-fry vegetables or quick-cooking rice come into play. There are times when 4:30 p.m. rolls around and I realize that although I had planned on one dish, I didn’t feel like making it. So I’ll switch to one of my fall back meals. 

One of our favorite easy, quick-to-prepare meals is a chicken, brown rice and hummus casserole. I can have it on the table for the nine of us in about 15 minutes. I simply use quick-cooking brown rice, pre-cooked chicken tenders, classic hummus, fresh parsley and water. 

 

The rice takes about six minutes to cook. Once it’s cooked, I dice the chicken and mix it into the brown rice. I stir half a container of hummus and a bit of water into the rice and chicken mixture and stir until the casserole is well-combined. 

I serve it with homemade rolls that I made and froze earlier in the week, and a fresh green salad.

Meal planning benefits you and your family whether you are trying to lose some weight or just eat a well-balanced meal. I am never sorry when I sit down at our family table knowing that my family is enjoying a healthy, flavor-filled meal that I prepared. 

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Diane’s blog, Fit to the Finish, offers encouragement to men and women who are trying to lose weight the healthy way. She is a Sabra Tastemaker and has been featured in Shape magazine. Diane can be found on the Dr. Oz website as a Wellness Warrior.  You can also find Diane on Facebook and Twitter.  

Hummus for Breakfast - A post and recipe idea from Sabra Chef MaryDawn Wright

Everyday at 8:30 I eat hummus for breakfast. It’s not because I am a great creature of habit, or it’s part of my health regime. It is because at 8:30 everyday we review and taste the hummus made the day before in our factory in Virginia, where I work. We aren’t the only 5-6 people in the world that eat hummus for breakfast. There are millions more that do across the Arabic world.

Hummus is not only a dip or a salad eaten throughout the Middle East and around the world. It is also a healthy and popular breakfast food. Okay, it doesn’t snap crackle or pop, but it does provide plenty of protein and fiber to get your day off to a good start. When I was visiting Israel we went to a small Arabic town along the Mediterranean Sea. There, we went to a restaurant for breakfast. This restaurant served one item, prepared two ways. That item, you guessed it, was hummus. It was served warm with chiles, pickles, cabbage, onions and cilantro, classic style. It was also served with warm extra whole chickpeas and tahini in a dish called Mashausha. It was 8:00 am and the restaurant was packed. There was a line at the take out window 5 people deep. The restaurant opened at 6:00 am and served hummus until it was gone, sometime before noon.

Hummus with Fava beans and whole chickpeas at a hummus restaurant in Tel Aviv

What can I say? The hummus was wonderful and worth the trip!! It changed my mind about hummus for breakfast forever. I don’t serve hummus with cabbage for breakfast at home….just a hunch, but I don’t think it would play too well. During our morning chaos I don’t make anything too fancy. But, I do make breakfast quesadillas using hummus for my tween and teenage sons.

I simply grab a whole grain tortilla, throw it in our well used cast iron pan, top it with cheese, heat it over medium heat (with a touch of oil if necessary) and as the cheese begins to melt, top it with a tablespoon or two of hummus. Fold it in half, remove it from the pan and let it cool a bit and eat!! I usually serve it with some fresh fruit on the side. My sons enjoy this dish, it isn’t hummus by the Mediterranean but , it carries them through the morning until they eat lunch!

Passion for food, passion for life!

MaryDawn Wright
Corporate Executive Chef

Sabra Invites Facebook Fans to Taste Adventure Philanthropy

We’ve got a very special project cooking at Sabra! This November we’ll be teaming up with adventure philanthropy company Roadmonkey to sponsor community development in Vietnam. A group of journey seeking men and women will be venturing deep into the Mekong Delta to build a revenue and food generating rice paddy & community garden, including a special project sponsored by Sabra. The team will be working alongside the people who will be benefiting from the rice paddy, an ethnic Khmer community struggling with poverty.

“Roadmonkey is grateful for Sabra's thoughtful support of this sustainable, hands-on volunteer project in Vietnam in November,” said Paul von Zielbauer, Roadmonkey's founder. “Vietnam is special to me and to Roadmonkey; it's where we launched our first adventure philanthropy expedition in 2008. Sabra clearly shares our passion for adventure and discovery, and we appreciate Sabra's efforts to help an impoverished community in need.”

Since 2008, Roadmonkey has organized many philanthropy adventures to Africa, Asia, Central America and South America, and has spearheaded as many community development projects. Past and future projects have included building a clean-water system in the northern highlands of Nicaragua, constructing a library at an orphanage in Saigon, and starting an organic farm on Zanzibar. Roadmonkey is committed to making the world a better place, one trip at a time.

Help us decide what Sabra can do to make a difference in Vietnam! Visit our Facebook page on October 1 to vote on whether Sabra should…

• Build a shaded gazebo and bench area in the garden or
  
• Add a hand pumped well or
• Gift 5 sets of gardening tools or
• Build a wooden roof over the children’s playground
  

and check back here after the trip ends for an update and blog post from Roadmonkey!

An update from Sabra Chef MaryDawn Wright, including a new recipe!

Wheww!! The last few months have been a whirlwind. In-between product development work, recipe development, buying a house and moving, I participated in the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, International Dairy, Deli and Bakery show in Los Angeles and my favorite convention, BlogHer in San Diego. A big thank you to all of the inspiring women bloggers writing about healthy food for children, special needs advocacy, and food, fun, health and life generally.

BlogHer is a convention of over 3000 female bloggers from all walks of life, blogging about the experiences they find on their path. This year Sabra sponsored the afternoon snack break along with Stacy’s pita chips. We created a “Mediterranean Nacho Bar”. A variety of flavored pita chips joined 3 types of hummus and a nice assortment of toppings including Greek olives, tomatoes, feta cheese, Parmesan cheese, cucumbers tossed in mint, roasted peppers, pepperoncini and shredded lettuce. It was a huge hit creating quite a buzz in the blogosphere. It’s quick and easy and barely needs a recipe. Try it at home!

PepsiCo was a major sponsor for the convention and Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo CEO, spoke at the keynote luncheon through a Q&A discussion. Her focus was “performance with purpose,” discussing how people want to go to work to earn a living but, just as importantly, want to contribute to a higher cause. She also stated companies have a “Duty of Care”. So, I ask you today on your way to or from work to pause and think what is your company’s “Duty of Care”? What is the higher purpose to which you contribute to or would like to contribute?

I am pretty clear on what they are for me and I try to use them as my internal compass keeping me on the path of being…me. I don’t always succeed but I keep coming back to them. They are a part of me I cannot ignore, because without them I would not be the MaryDawn we all know, love and/or find quite annoying…

With that said, August is vacation month in many places. If you can’t get away this month then please try this “Hummus Oasis” I created. I am going to the beach in a few weeks, but I think I’ll be bringing the ingredients for this super--‐simple recipe along with me!

Passion for food, passion for life,

MaryDawn

Hummus Oasis

A refreshing summer treat for those moments when you need an escape.

Makes 4 servings

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Special Equipment: 4 Martini glasses

½ cup Sabra® Chipotle or Supremely Spicy Hummus, divided

½ cup lump crab meat, divided

¼ cup Sabra® Spicy Guacamole, divided

½ cup microgreens or baby lettuce

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons olive oil

pinch of salt

2/3 cup Bloody Mary mix or spicy tomato juice

4 shots vodka, very chilled (optional)

1. PLACE 2 tablespoons of hummus in the bottom of each martini glass.

2. TOP with 2 tablespoons of lump crab meat. Place guacamole on top of

crab.

3. TOSS microgreens, lemon juice and olive oil together. Place on top of

guacamole.

4. POUR Bloody Mary Mix around salad, creating a moat. Pour float of

optional vodka over Bloody Mary mix. Serve immediately.

Entertaining Expert Ceci Carmichael Loves Sabra

Last week Entertaining Expert Ceci Carmichael was invited to share her favorite tips for planning a summer get-together with TV audiences. She suggested planning a party around a theme to give yourself an easy starting point for food and decorations and encourage guest to engage in your event. For this particular event, Ceci chose a garden party theme which carried over to her outfit and the flowers on the table. The food she showcased was colorful and healthy, perfect for an afternoon in the garden. Along with Stacy’s Pita Chips, Blue Bunny Ice Cream and Idahoan Mashed Potatoes, Ceci featured Sabra products!

Ceci knows that often the hardest part of planning a party is finding foods that please everyone. As a party host you want your guests to be comfortable and happy—not hungry. Ceci loves Sabra because of the great variety of products that we offer, from a dozen flavors of hummus to the new salsas, guacamoles and Greek yogurt vegetable dips. With so many options it’s easy to please even the pickiest of eaters. Pairing Sabra dips with vegetables, chips or bread allows for even more variety. Ceci was also impressed by how authentic and fresh the Sabra products tasted. She even admitted that since trying Sabra’s guacamole she’s given up on making her own!

You may have caught her on your local morning show in markets including Orlando, Atlanta, Springfield and Wichita, or on radio. She was also interviewed by CW’s The Daily Buzz morning show!

Here is a link to Ceci talking about what she loves about Sabra.

Sabra Welcomes Congressman Eric Cantor

Sabra was excited to welcome Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia's 7th District to our factory this past Friday. Congressman Cantor toured the facility and met with Sabra team members.

Sabra CEO Ronen Zohar said, “We were honored to welcome Congressman Cantor to Sabra’s factory in Chesterfield County, VA. As makers of fresh, healthy dips and spreads, including the country’s best-selling hummus, we are proud to have built our Silver LEED certified manufacturing facility in Virginia. We applaud the Congressman’s efforts to create an environment for job growth in Virginia. As a matter of fact, we have announced we will host Sabra’s National Center of Excellence for Research and Development and Innovation in our Virginia facility. This hub of expertise will serve to develop and disseminate best practices throughout our organization nationwide. As Sabra continues to grow and expand our product offerings, we are confident we will continue to benefit from the community, the resources and the incredible talent in the region.”

An Intro and Recipe from Sabra Executive Chef MaryDawn Wright

April showers have given way to the sunny days of BBQ season. Having just moved from upstate NY to Richmond, VA, I am enjoying the warmer weather the more southern climate brings (I may change my mind in August).

I moved to Richmond last September to work with Sabra as Executive Research Chef. In this position I work to develop new flavors and products for Sabra, combining my training in food science and the culinary arts. I also design recipes using Sabra products and teach people about our many products and their varied uses. I cook a lot! I’d love to give you an example of a typical workday at Sabra, but I don’t really have one! Each day is different. One day, I might be working in the plant with our production staff helping produce a new flavor, the next I may be in our test kitchen cooking and developing recipes for restaurants or for people at home, like you. Another day, I could review new ingredients or traveling and presenting our products at a food show.

Sabra has nearly 20 flavors of hummus and an expanding product portfolio that also includes Greek yogurt-style dips, cold Mediterranean-style salads, salsa, and guacamole. On a purely selfish level, this is great for me, because my favorite cuisines are Mediterranean and Mexican.

Many of our products help simplify the day to day busy-ness in the kitchen, as they are not only great tasting dips, but are healthy ingredients to help make dinner time simpler. As a mother of two boys (10 and 12) I can tell you that, even as a chef, I need all the help I can get trying to put dinner on the table, get homework done and go to sporting events.

To that end, did you know that Sabra hummus makes a great basting sauce for vegetables, chicken and meats? Brush it on a chicken, meat or vegetable kebab or a chicken breast as you are grilling it. It creates a golden brown crust as it cooks. Or brush it on just before you are done grilling so the hummus warms up and accents the flavor of the meat as a warm sauce.

Our Greek yogurt dips can be used as an excellent marinade for chicken. Here is a quick recipe:

Marinated Chicken Kebabs
Makes 4 Kebabs

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into chunks (about 1 inch in size)
1 container Sabra® Roasted Garlic or Onion Greek Style Veggie Dip, divided
1/8th teaspoon turmeric
1 red bell pepper, chopped into chunks (about 1 inch in size)
1 small yellow onion, chopped into chunks (about 1 inch in size)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. STIR chicken, ½ container Sabra® Roasted Garlic or Onion Greek Style Veggie Dip and turmeric together in a small mixing bowl. Refrigerate for at least ½ hour allowing the veggie dip to tenderize and flavor the chicken.
2. PREHEAT broiler or grill.
3. ASSEMBLE kebabs, alternating pepper, onion and chicken on the skewers.
4. GRILL on charcoal grill outside or under the broiler indoors. Cook 10-15 minutes or until juice runs clear from the chicken.
5. BRUSH remaining yogurt dip over hot kebabs.
6. SERVE warm with a salad (try our cucumber avocado salad recipe), hummus, rice and warm pita bread for a Mediterranean style dinner.

I look forward to further conversations and sharing more recipes with you. Please let me know how you use our products and if you have any culinary questions.

Passion for food, passion for life,
MaryDawn

Bringing Adventure Seekers and Food Lovers to Sabra's Table

Earlier this month, we welcomed our 2011 Tastemaker Panel -- a select group of bloggers and influencers -- to help spread the Sabra story, share their thoughts and suggestions with the company, and to get an intimate look behind the scenes at the country's favorite hummus maker!

Sabra, which began as a small hummus brand in New York City, has become the leading manufacturer of flavored dips and spreads in the country. Best known for its top-selling hummus, Sabra unveiled several new lines of fresh and healthy dips and spreads to the Tastemaker Panel, including four flavors of salsa, two versions of guacamole, and three Greek Yogurt-based vegetable dips! Throughout its evolution and growth, Sabra has engendered a passionate response from fans who love to help others discover Sabra.

“Whether through our offline campaigns, social media efforts or our nationwide Sabra Taste Adventure Tour, we love connecting with Sabra fans,” said Mina Penna, Senior Brand Manager for Sabra Dipping Company. “The Tastemaker Panel is made up of an authentic and diverse group of people who inspire us with their passion for delicious food, sense of adventure, and passion to discover a healthier lifestyle. We have invited them to the Sabra table not only to help more people discover Sabra, but to share their experiences with us and help shape the Sabra story.”

Our Tastemaker panelists were among the first to try our new products, to visit the Sabra Silver LEED Certified factory in Chesterfield County VA, meet the Sabra brand and new product teams, and get a sneak peek at Sabra’s upcoming marketing and advertising initiatives. The Tastemaker Panel members also shared their thoughts with Sabra on new product development, social media, social responsibility, nutrition and recipes and usage ideas.

Each panel member will be contributing recipes to a downloadable PDF cookbook that will be made available to Sabra’s Facebook fans later this year, so stay tuned. Until then ... several of our Tastemaker Panel members wrote about their experiences, and we hope you will check their posts out!

The Sabra Factory through the eyes of Iowa Girl Eats.

The new hummus flavors, courtesy Chaviva Galatz.

Hailing from Tennessee, Diane Carbonell at Fit to the Finish marveled at how hummus is more than just a dip, while New Jersey-based Chaviva Galatz, aka the Kvetching Editor, highlighted the importance of gravity in the production of hummus at Sabra's factory.

The face behind Iowa Girl Eats, Kristin Porter, detailed the trip step by step, from the green initiatives at the factory to the "Spice Girls," who are in charge of organizing spices for each of the hummus flavors, and Virginia's own Linda Sellers, owner/author of Welcome to Linneyville, took some amazing photos -- she made hardhats look cool!

We were also happy to have The Meal Makeover Moms' Liz Weiss, who used her journalism background to ask some hard-hitting questions, and we want to thank her and fellow dietitian Janice Bissex for sharing their new cookbook, No Whine With Dinner, with our Tastemaker Panel.

Also, although we missed Founder & CEO of Roadmonkey Adventure Philanthropy Inc. Paul von Zielbauer and Deanna Garretson of Domestic Chicky, we look forward to recipes from them and Atlanta-based Renee Ross of Cutie Booty Cakes, too!





For more information on our new fresh products, check out this blog post!