Chico Hot Springs Resort & Day Spa
1 Old Chico Road * Pray, Montana 59065
Phone: 406-333-4933 * www.chicohotsprings.com
Nestled in the foothills of the Absaroka Mountains in Montana’s Paradise Valley, Chico Hot Springs Resort is a rustic oasis where we floated in steaming hot springs, and feasted in their quaint 100-year old dining room. The service was impeccable and the food divine. Most of the produce was harvested from their own organic garden and geothermal greenhouses. We so enjoyed their signature Fennel Breadsticks, Vegetable Tower and irresistible Orange Flambe. If you can’t visit soon, you must get “A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort” by Seabring Davis (ThreeForks, an imprint of the Globe Pequot Press).
Vegetable Tower
Marinade
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 lemons, cut in half
4 tablespoons minced garlic
4 cups extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
Vegetables
3 semi-ripe beefsteak tomatoes,
sliced in ½”-thick rings
2 medium red onions, sliced into rings
2 large eggplants, sliced into rings
1 bunch asparagus, stems cut off
2 large zucchini, cut lengthwise
8 ounces goat cheese
½ cup Balsamic Vinegar Reduction Sauce
½ cup Basil Oil
To prepare marinade: Mix all marinade ingredients together, squeezing juice from lemons. Add sliced vegetables and toss until all are coated with oil. Marinate for at least 2 hours at room temperature.
Remove vegetables from marinade and grill until soft but not charred or mushy. Vegetables such as tomatoes and zucchini will finish before others, so check throughout grilling; removed cooked pieces.
Drizzle individual oversized plates generously with alternating lines of Basil Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction Sauce (recipes available at www.kitchengardenseeds.com and in A Montana Table.) on top of the sauce, build four individual towers with eggplant, onion, tomato and zucchini, in that order, sprinkling crumbled goat cheese between each vegetable layer. Arrange asparagus in a fan around the base of the tower on the plate, top with more goat cheese crumbles and serve. You can also build the towers on one large serving platter depending on the occasion. Serves 4.
1 Old Chico Road * Pray, Montana 59065
Phone: 406-333-4933 * www.chicohotsprings.com
Nestled in the foothills of the Absaroka Mountains in Montana’s Paradise Valley, Chico Hot Springs Resort is a rustic oasis where we floated in steaming hot springs, and feasted in their quaint 100-year old dining room. The service was impeccable and the food divine. Most of the produce was harvested from their own organic garden and geothermal greenhouses. We so enjoyed their signature Fennel Breadsticks, Vegetable Tower and irresistible Orange Flambe. If you can’t visit soon, you must get “A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort” by Seabring Davis (ThreeForks, an imprint of the Globe Pequot Press).
Vegetable Tower
Marinade
Vegetables
To prepare marinade: Mix all marinade ingredients together, squeezing juice from lemons. Add sliced vegetables and toss until all are coated with oil. Marinate for at least 2 hours at room temperature.
Remove vegetables from marinade and grill until soft but not charred or mushy. Vegetables such as tomatoes and zucchini will finish before others, so check throughout grilling; removed cooked pieces.
Drizzle individual oversized plates generously with alternating lines of Basil Oil and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction Sauce (recipes available at www.kitchengardenseeds.com and in A Montana Table.) on top of the sauce, build four individual towers with eggplant, onion, tomato and zucchini, in that order, sprinkling crumbled goat cheese between each vegetable layer. Arrange asparagus in a fan around the base of the tower on the plate, top with more goat cheese crumbles and serve. You can also build the towers on one large serving platter depending on the occasion. Serves 4.
