According to WebMD:

“When Americans think of a ‘diet,’ they tend to think deprivation,” says Eve Adamson, co-author (with chef Melissa Kelly) of Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too and The Mediterranean Diet (with Marissa Cloutier, RD).

“That is: no carbs, no fat, no sugar, no meat — diets are all about forbidding particular foods. The Mediterranean diet is different. Instead of focusing on what you can’t have, it focuses on what you can have — the very best, freshest, healthiest foods.”

I was invited to participate in creating a Mediterranean-inspired recipe for La Romanella.

I was pretty nervous about this one. I have never actually created a recipe from scratch.

As I thought about this for the past week, I have been careful not to read too many recipes.

About a year ago, I had the amazing opportunity to hear Lisa Leonard. She encouraged us to find inspiration NOT from our own genre.

How does that translate to me? I listen to music, sing or read to get inspiration for photography. I don’t try to get inspiration before a photo shoot from other photo shoots.

This makes it much easier for me to keep my lines of inspiration clear.

So, I tried to steer clear of reading too many recipes this week.

I looked to my family and their wonderful tummies for inspiration.

#1 My family loves mushrooms. Good, yummy, baby bellas.

#2 My family loves their pasta.

#3 My family doesn’t like seafood.

I started with La Romanella Olive Oil and Chardonnay.

In a skillet, I combined 1 cup of Chardonnay and 2 cups of La Romanella Olive Oil.

As soon as it started smoking, I added the baby bellas. I let them get good and brown. Ree said more color = more flavor.

As soon as the mushrooms were beautiful, I used a slotted spoon to take out the mushrooms and placed them on a plate with a paper towel. I added strips of raw chicken to the deliciousness that was still in the skillet. I cooked the chicken on medium high.

While the chicken was cooking, I made the pasta: La Romanella Organic Penne Lisce.

In another skillet, I  heated up La Romanella Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce. I added 1/2 cup of Half & Half to the sauce, just for fun. Julie made it look really good. I had to try it. I was very curious about Half & Half with sauce. Let me just say;  she was correct.

The mommy and daddy version:

The Sweet Baby J and Nate the Great version: