CARPINTERIA, CA - After sorting through hundreds of entries, Hollandia Produce has chosen the winners of its “A Better Butter Lettuce Recipe Contest,” a national retail and consumer-based campaign aimed at helping both consumers and retailers better understand the versatility of living butter lettuce as a staple recipe ingredient.

"The quality and creativity of these recipes submissions was overwhelming," said Renee Cooper, Marketing Manager for Hollandia Produce. "Choosing the winners was very tough. However, we believe the selected entries best represent the essence of our campaign and best showcase the quality of our produce."

Contestants competed for the $1,000 Grand Prize gift card to Williams-Sonoma and $150, $75, and $50 gift cards respectively for the First-, Second- and Third-Place honors in the categories of Salad/Side, Appetizer, and Main Course.  

The Butter Lettuce Contest Winners include:

• Grand Prize:     
• Suzanne Clark - Butter Lettuce Wrapped Crab and Halibut with Lettuce Butter Sauce

• Salad/Side Winners:
• First - Josee Lanzi - Deconstructed Salmon Sushi Roll Salad

• Second -Ben Diaz - Crisp Butter Lettuce with Honey Lime Vinaigrette, Bacon, Apples, and Wilted Spinach
• Third - Melanie Terwilliger - Butter Lettuce, Grilled Peach and Goat Cheese Salad with Cornbread Croutons and Fig Preserve Vinaigrette
• Appetizer/Starter Winners
• First - Naylet LaRochelle - Grilled Chicken and Nectarine Pinchos with Butter Lettuce and Cashew Pesto

• Second -Gloria Piantek - Italian Roast Beef Lettuce Wraps with Butter Lettuce Crunch Pesto
• Third - Pamela Braun - Stacked Butter Lettuce Salad with Pears and Taleggio Dressing
• Main Course Winners
• First - Lidia Haddadian - Butter Lettuce Herbed Quinoa & Sunny Side Up Bowls

• Second -Mary McShack - Butter Lettuce Pesto Bacon and Tomato Panini
• Third - Shauna Havey - Spicy Falafel Butter Lettuce Tacos

Hollandia Produce used social media, a contest microsite, and shipped its Live Gourmet® Living Butter Lettuce with a recipe label attached to each clamshell to promote the contest. Six original, chef-created butter lettuce recipes were rotated bi-monthly throughout the contest to show just how living butter lettuce can be prepared as anything from a salad, wrap, sandwich, and to a smoothie.

All of the award-winning recipes and many of the additional submissions will soon be available for download on www.hollandiaproduce.com while some will appear with creator commentary in upcoming blog posts. And coming soon, Hollandia Produce will host similar recipe contest that will feature its Living Upland Cress and Organic Watercress products.

Hollandia Produce