Last week I got together with fellow Atlanta bloggers as part of “A Fabulous Summer of Flavor,” a contest sponsored by Lawry’s. Our theme is “On Vacation” and our mission is to cook our way to victory by submitting the tastiest or most interesting recipes in the competition.

My partners—Piera at Jolly Mom (our hostess), Lisa at Life with Lisa, Meghan at JaMonkey, Renee at Cutie Booty Cakes, and Diane at Turning the Clock Back—and I are competing against teams of bloggers in ten other cities.

As good as our food tasted, I feel like our chances are good!

We had so much fun cooking, talking, and laughing. I love spending time with other bloggers and getting to know them. Atlanta is a great place to blog because there are so many neat ladies doing it!

Here are our recipes, which make up a meal: Balsamic Herb Tomato Salad (salad), Garlic Knots (bread), and White Chicken Pizza (main course). We would totally make pizza as a family on vacation—what a great way to involve the whole family in the kitchen!

I would really appreciate your help. We want our team to win! Twenty-five percent of the scoring is based on overall community engagement with blog readers and Twitter followers

White Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Marinade
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
3 Tbsp of olive oil
1 large bunch fresh spinach
1/2 small red onion, sliced thinly
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 recipe homemade pizza dough

Directions:
Marinade chicken in Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Marinade (overnight is best, but a few fours will work).
Cook chicken on grill pan until done and then shred.
Roll out pizza dough very thin and brush the top with olive oil and add minced garlic. Add fresh spinach, mozzarella cheese, red onion, and chicken. Don’t overload your pizza with toppings–it’s best to keep it light.
Cook your pizza on a pizza stone or quarry tiles in an oven that’s been preheated to 500 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown around the edges.

Recipe makes 2-3 pizzas, depending on how thin you roll out your pizza.

Balsamic Herb Tomato Salad

Ingredients:
2 pounds tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup Lawry’s Balsamic Herb Marinade
Parmigiano Reggiano

Directions:
Combine the tomatoes, scallions and marinade in a large salad bowl and toss to coat. Top with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Garlic Knots

Ingredients:

Dough
1 3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast
5 1/2 cups all-pupose, unbleached flour

Garlic Coating
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 cloves garlic, finely crushed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
Parmigiano Reggiano
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to taste

Directions:
Combine water, olive oil, sea salt, sugar, and active dry yeast in a large bowl. Mix to dissolve yeast.
Add flour and mix until well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lint free towel and set in a warm spot to proof until doubled in size. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough for a few days if you want to make it ahead of time or go ahead and begin making the knots.
Divide the dough in two balls to make it easier to handle. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 5″x16″ and 1/2 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 1/2? x 5? strips.
With floured hands, roll each strip back and forth to create a rope. Tie into a knot–over, under, and through– and place on sheet pan lined with a silpat or parchment paper.
Make the rest of the knots, cover pans loosely with a towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise before baking. You want the knots to double in size (approx.)
Preheat oven to 500° F. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden.
While knots are baking, make garlic coating. Gently warm olive oil, butter, and garlic in a small saucepan. Add chopped parsley and set aside.
Remove knots from oven, place in a large bowl and toss with garlic coating OR brush the coating on. Season with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt to taste and freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

Help us win? (and you could win the 3 Lawry’s products we used!)

As I mentioned, 25% of the scoring is based on overall community engagement with blog readers and Twitter followers. Please leave a comment on this post and tweet it, too. It’s easy to tweet by clicking Tweetmeme button at the bottom of this post (it looks like this —->)

One commenter or tweeter will receive a sample pack with a 16-oz jar of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, Lawry’s Balsamic Herb Marinade, and Lawry’s Seasoned Salt Marinade.

What’s your favorite way to use Lawry’s?