O My

Last week I was glancing through Leftover Queens blog and come across her call for help during Ovarian Cancer awareness month. I immediately felt compelled to join in. If it's one thing I do miss about working at Starbucks it was the chance to join in bringing awareness and aid to various organizations in need of help.

These are the rules:

O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn of The Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:

Ovarian Cancer Research Fund

and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for the OFoods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;

OR
2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

AND
3. Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you’ve made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.

We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.

Prizes:

* 1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
* 1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italiano cookbook.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

* Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
* The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
* The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.

* In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.

* When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund
and help spread the word!

I was letting these O foods bounce around in my head all the while searching for something good for dinner. I noticed a few bits of leftovers and remembered a certain sandwich that we enjoy around here. I decided to modify it and give an all out O makeover.



Chicken PestO MayO, Open faced sandwich with RomanO cheese


2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
1 large onion thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper diced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sliced olives
1/2 cup sliced pepperoncinnis
1 cup spinach or lettuce (optional)
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
1/4 cup prepared pesto
chicken or turkey cutlets (or breast meat sliced from rotisserie chicken)
6 Slices of good crusty bread
Romano, or sliced provolone cheese

In a medium saucepan heat tablespoon of butter with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the sliced mushrooms, onions, red bell pepper, and red pepper flakes. Saute over medium heat until the mushrooms have released their juice and are starting to brown. Remove from heat and set aside

If you are using cutlets season with salt, pepper and I like a sprinkle of poultry seasoning. Cook in large skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil, over medium high heat until browned and cooked through.

In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise and pesto together.

Toast the sliced bread under broiler until golden brown on both sides. Spread about 2 tablespoons of pesto mayo on one side of bread. Layer with either cutlet or sliced chicken breast, 1/4 cup mushroom mixture, sprinkle of olives, sprinkle of pepperoncinnis, spinach (if using) and then grate some Romano cheese over top (we also adore this sandwich with provolone if you have some).

Put topped bread back under broiler for 30 seconds or until the cheese is melted.


I hope you can come up with some delicious O foods and bring forth even more awareness. Plus please check out Bleeding Espresso's post on signs and symptoms of Ovarian Cancer. It is very informative and has plenty of wonderful resources to go to for information and donation procedures.