Seasonal, summer cooking is simply the best! With summer officially being underway, we welcomed Jared Cannon of Simply Good Jars to COOK for a “Simply Good Summer” dinner. While Jared turns out delicious meals in jars, at COOK he showed off his cooking skills with some fantastic warm weather dishes. However, he did show guests how sweet meals-to-go can be with his final dish – cheesecake in a jar! Read on for a sweet and savory summer appetizer on the grill and get the details on Jared’s “no bake” cheesecake.
Oh, did I mention that Jared’s feast was complimented with cocktails? Guests enjoyed a cocktail topped with Simply Good Jars’ beverage partner SIPP Sparkling Organics soda with each of Jared’s four courses. Pictured above is the SIPP Ginger Blossom Cocktail, a base of bourbon and bitters topped off with soda infused with ginger, vanilla and lime.
Grilled Peach Prosciutto Bites with Ricotta Salata and Fig
Since it was the first week of peach season, Jared said that he wanted to grill up some fresh seasonal fruit to start off the meal. This dish showed off Jared’s commitment to using seasonal ingredients sourced from local farms; in fact Simply Good Jars works with 25 nearby farms. Never grilled fruit yourself? Jared explained that by grilling fruit, the sweetness comes out due to the natural sugars becoming caramelized from the intense heat.
If you’d like to make this sweet and salty treat for your next summer party just follow these basic steps:
- Slice peaches into 1/6’s (cut off the bottom to keep the peach in place).
- Grill peaches until grill marks are achieved and slightly tender.
- Place a slice of ricotta salata on top of each grilled peach slice.
- Wrap the cheese and peach in prosciutto. You can stand the fruit up on it’s sliced bottom for a nice presentation.
- Serve with fig jam and a garnish of arugula!
Blood Orange “No Bake” Cheesecake
COOK guests enjoyed a light, citrusy cheesecake in a Simply Good jar for dessert. Simply Good Jars came into being when Jared noticed the disconnect between the amount of food waste in the restaurant industry and people going hungry in the city. With 18 years of cooking experience Jared decided to take the leap and start Simply Good Jars to not only give people healthy food options, but also practice social and environmental responsibility. That is why they have a jar return program to incentivize people to recycle while they reduce the amount of packaging needed. According to Jared, about 90% of their customers return the jars! Learn more about the jars, Simply Good Jars’ subscription meal service and more on their FAQ’s section of their website.
Now for the “no bake” cheesecake recipe!
Ingredients
Yields 16 small jars
- 12 blood oranges, peeled and juiced
- 2 lbs Graham crackers, crushed into crumbs
- 3 sticks of butter
- 3 lbs ricotta cheese
- 1 lb mascarpone
- 2 lbs cream cheese
- 2 lemons, zested
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- Handful of chia seeds
Melt the butter halfway and then add the vanilla. Now fully melt the butter and incorporate it into the graham cracker crumbs. Now in a large bowl combine the ricotta, mascarpone, cream cheese and lemon zest. Lastly we need to make the blood orange compote. Combine the maple syrup, chia seeds, the juice and some pulp from the blood oranges and stir until completely integrated. Now take your small containers and full them with a layer of graham cracker mix, then cream, and lastly the blood orange compote. Give out as party favors or hoard them for yourself as a summer dessert!
Back to Blog
