Dole Launches 5th Annual Recipe Contest

The Dole Food Company is now accepting grilling recipes for its fifth annual Dole California Cook-Off contest, in which one griller will take home $25,000 as well as a four-day, three-night trip to Los Angeles.

Now through May 15, applicants can submit a recipe that can be prepared in 60 minutes or less and incorporates a least one Dole packaged product and no more than seven additional ingredients. Recipes will be judged on creativity, flavor and taste.

Three finalists will be selected from around the nation and flown to Southern California in late June, where they will prepare their Dole dish for a panel of judges led by celebrity chef Ben Ford of Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City, Calif.

“Challenge yourself—whether you’re a young adult learning your way around a grill, an expert at feeding your family, or a full-time worker bee who is challenged to eat healthfully throughout a busy schedule—$25,000 is at stake here and it could be yours,” Ford said.

For ideas on what to enter in the 2013 Dole California Cook-Off, consumers can visit Dole’s website and Facebook page.

Dole is the world’s largest producer and marketer of high-quality fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, and is the leading producer of organic bananas. Dole markets a growing line of packaged and frozen fruit and is a produce industry leader in nutrition education and research.