Quick and Easy Pasta Dinner in just a few minutes

We made this excellent Roasted pasta dish for a recent fundraiser. It was such a hit we thought we should share the recipe with you!

Ingredients

2 pints grape tomatoes

4 close of unpeeled garlic

4 small shallots cut into strips

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

1.5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces rigatoni pasta

½ cup of pitted olives coarsely chopped

4 cups of spinach

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Toss Tomatoes, Clove Garlic, Shallots, Salt, Pepper, and Thyme in oil on a baking sheet. Roasted for 22 minutes, until browned

While the vegetables are roasting boil a pot of salted water and cook the pasta until al dente (roughly 6-8 minutes). Drain pasta and keep 1/3 cup of pasta water. Peel and mash the garlic.

Add garlic, the vegetables, and pasta water to the pot. Cook for 3 more minutes, while stirring and toss with spinach.

Serve warm.

Sandra's Added Touch Wins! - Catie Awards 2010

Click on the HERE to see all of this year's winners for the prestigious

2010 International Catering Awards

Best Buffet- “VIP Winter Wonderland Dessert Menu”

2009 Winner of the Best Buffet Menu and Presentation CATIE Award

Added Touch Catering

The VIP Winter Wonderland Dessert presentation was created for a “Winter Wonderland” Bat Mitzvah. We wanted to create a beautiful forum to display some of our most loved desserts, while keeping with the theme of the evening. All of the desserts and surrounding décor used various shades of whites and blues to replicate the feelings associated with winter. We used white tulle to “rope off” the buffet station so the guests could view the beautiful display, while waiting for the dessert course to begin. This created both time for the guests to admire the buffet and increased their anticipation.

Check out our Full Entry on ICA's Website By Clicking HERE

Sandra and Clive Bank with their CATIE Award!

And The Winner is...

Sandra's Added Touch Nominated for Two Allie Awards!

We are proud to be nominated for not one, but TWO Atlanta Allie Awards. The Allie Awards, “honors and promotes excellence in event design, planning and production,” in the Atlanta area. We have been nominated for “Most Creative Venue” (we are up against Destination South Meetings and Events) and “Best Menu on a Shoe String Budget.” Here are a few pics of our nominated events.

We cannot wait for the award ceremony on April 11th! Congratulations to everyone nominated!

Most Creative Venue

This dinner banquet honored a local philanthropist who has donated large sums of money to the Atlanta Food Bank. We wanted to honor the magnificent charitable efforts of this woman while drawing attention to her cause: in order to fulfill both of these mandates we decided to hold the party in the warehouse of the food bank itself, using canned goods as décor. We were in charge of all foodstuffs- hors d'oeuvres, buffets, and desserts; as well as the center pieces, linens, and coordinating the lighting, balloons, and furniture rentals.

View of the Food Bank

Dessert Buffet

Center Pieces Made from Re-usable Canned Goods

Best Menu on A Budget

Our mission was to create an adorable birthday party without exceeding the client’s budget. Understandably, the client did not want to spend more than $1,000 dollars for their child’s first birthday. We accomplished this by designing an adult menu consisting of healthy yet affordable comfort foods and a very simple beverage bar. The children’s food was presented in inexpensive brown bags with monkey themed treats. We also hand created simple décor items like monkey masks and a “Happy Birthday” banner. We handled every facet of this event, the décor, the linens, the layout, the set-up, and the delicious nutritious meals.

View of "Ten Little Highchairs" Baby Buffet

Monkey Themed Dessert Buffet

Healthy Lunch or Dinner Recipe- Sushi Salad

We have had many requests for our recipe for the “Smoked Salmon and Avocado Sushi Salad.” This salad is light enough to be a side for a heavier meal, but substantial enough to be the main course for a smaller one. It makes an excellent healthy, protein packed lunch; its vibrant, complimenting, green, and pink hues, make for an elegant treat.

Recipe:

SUSHI SALAD

3 Cups Sushi Rice – Best if cooked the day before, cook according to instructions.

Carrots –Grated very finely

Cucumbers –Matchstick (Sliced into thin strips)

Tinned Corn Drained

Avocado – Sliced into Strips or Squares

Spring Onions – Chopped

1 Pack of Smoked Salmon – Cut into thin strips

Red Pepper -Sliced into thin strips

Edemame Beans

Pickled Ginger- Sliced

Dressing

Mix and Shake or Stir Well

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 Cup Soy Sauce

2 Tsp Wasabi

6 tsp Sugar

2 Tbs Water

Make three cups of sushi rice at least a few hours before making the salad (best if it is made the day before) and leave it at room temperature. Mix all of the Ingredients (except the Avocado) together in a bowl and toss with the dressing. Lay the Avocado Slices around the salad and add more Pickled Ginger if desired. Serve and Enjoy!

CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING AN INTERNATIONAL CATERING AWARD!

We have just won an International CATIE Award for Best Buffet for our “VIP Winter Wonderland of Desserts!” (As seen on WeTv.com) This is an amazing achievement and we are so proud to be a part of this competition. We faced competitors from all over the world, from the U.S. to Vancouver to South Africa.

The winners were just announced at The CATIE-Spotlight Awards at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas during Catersource, March 8, 2010 Congrats to all of the winners and nominees!!

Sandra holding her CATIE Award!

Become a fan of Sandra's Added Touch

Sandra's Added Touch Catering is now on Facebook. Become a FAN (by clicking here) and join our GROUP (by Clicking Here) and get up to date ideas, information, and food innovation!

Unique Bris or Baby’s Birthday Party!

The Jewish tradition of hosting a bris for a new baby boy is a wonderful custom, and we strive to provide the most adorable and unique spreads for each client. Rather then using conventional all blue boy’s décor, we used every Sesame Street fan’s favorite, Rubber Duckies.

An Inflatable Duckie served as the ice cooler for our bar

Fruit Platter and Egg Salad

The blue from the duckie’s aquarium emphasizes the blues in the linens and balloons and compliments the adorable yellow ducks.

Table center pieces. These were so simple to create, all they require is a fish bowl and a few smaller glass containers, water with blue dye, and tons of cute rubber duckies!

While we used these duckies for a Bris, this party could work beautifully as a child's birthday party!

Sandra's Added Touch is on WeTV.com!

We are proud to be listed among WeTv's Divine Dessert Displays for our VIP Wonderland Dessert Station. Check-out our display along side some of the other great's like Amy Atlas, Kelly Harris, and Bobbette & Belle!

http://www.wetv.com/photo-galleries/divine-dessert-displays/winter-wonderland.html

http://www.wetv.com/photo-galleries/divine-dessert-displays/the-wintry-mix.html

Personalized London Calling Pie Shop!

For a recent 60s Beatles themed party, we developed this traditional London Pie Shop. We displayed perfect personalized Pie boxes reading, “MADDIE’S PIE SHOP” “PEACE,” and “IMAGINE.”

*A Selection of Delicious and Hearty Savory Mini Pies

Succulent Prime Steak and Onion Pie with Herbs

Half Moon Shaped

Vegetarian Spinach and Cheese Pies

Triangle Shaped

Individual Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Pot Pie Shaped

Served with Mashed Potatoes, English Peas

And Homemade Gravy for Topping

*Stay Tuned for some excellent Pie Recipes from our Chef!

“Wok and Roll” Appetizer Library

Sometimes we feel like we have an encyclopedia of Hors devours options. We are always challenging ourselves to display our many appetizers in a creative manner. In playing with this idea, we came up with the “Wok and Roll” Appetizer Library.

We displayed our various appetizers on chic black book shelves, stacked with individually re-titled books that served as menu cards.