A new "Salad'tude" initiative from Dole, Monterey will send the country's most expressive salad lovers to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Napa Valley, Calif., to help them hone their cooking and salad-making skills and take their appreciation of salad to the next level.
Dole Fresh Vegetables is reteaming with Clinton Kelly, star of TLC's "What Not to Wear" and ABC's "The Crew," for the Dole Salads Salad'tude Contest. This latest initiative encourages salad lovers to connect to their Salad'tude -- the notion that salad goes beyond food to encompass a wide range of positive emotions and experiences -- from the familiarity of a family food tradition to the joy that comes from satisfying a specific taste or ingredient craving -- which can be expressed through salad creation and sharing.
Six winners will be chosen to attend the Dole Salad'tude Culinary Adventure at the CIA in Napa Valley in late spring or early summer 2013. The package includes round-trip airfare for the winner and one guest to Northern California, three nights' accommodation at the four-star Solage Hotel & Spa in Napa Valley; a professional wine-tasting class; a CIA customized, chef-led culinary training program; car rental, airport transfers and $1,000 in spending money.
The world's largest provider of fresh fruits and vegetables, Dole introduced the concept of Salad'tude in 2011 as part of its long-term goal to inspire the country's millions of salad users to new heights of salad appreciation, creativity and personal expression. The multi-year program is consistent with the company's larger mission of increasing America's nutritional health by encouraging greater consumption of fruits and vegetables
Clinton Kelly is the co-host of What Not to Wear on TLC and The Chew on ABC Daytime. Clinton Kelly's Own Salad'tude: As part of his partnership with Dole, Kelly worked closely with the produce expert to translate his fondest food memories and experiences into three unique salad recipes featuring popular DOLE Salads blends and all-natural kits. Kelly's involvement ensured that the recipes would not only be tasty, but would lend themselves to a fun, relaxed and stylish dining experience.
Continuing through Dec. 11, 2012, the "DOLE Salads Salad'tude Contest" will ultimately send six winners, on an elaborate, four-day, three-night culinary adventure at Greystone, the Napa Valley, campus of the CIA. Kelly, who has broadened his personal style and fashion expertise to include food and entertaining, will make a guest appearance at the event to share his personal Salad'tude -- and how his childhood memories of family meals and cooking traditions inspired a series of new Dole fall and winter salad recipes.
"I love Dole's concept of Salad'tude, and how certain foods conjure up positive emotions and feelings," says Kelly. "I can still remember our family's summer lobster boil and my grandmother's Eggplant Parmesean and Pear Crunch Pie. Dole showed me how to transform these incredible memories into quick and easy salads that instantly take me back to my childhood."
To participate in Dole's latest contest, salad lovers are asked to use a personal story, poem, recipe or childhood memory to describe their personal "Salad'tude," which Dole is defining as the emotions that are expressed through salad. To that written expression, participants must add an original photo linking them or another salad lover to a specific salad creation or experience.