Okanagan residents are lucky to have an abundance of easily accessible, locally grown food at their fingertips.

While some of us get the privilege of getting to know the men and women who produce that bounty of fruit and vegetables, not everyone has access, so we bring them to you with our weekly Meet Your Farmer feature.

And every once in a while we try to cover something a little different, given there are so many creative people using food in such creative ways.

This week we spoke to Calvin Hoy, the owner, creator and operator of Mama Hogg鈥檚 Grilled Caesar Salad Dressing .

Calvin Hoy developed and shared hundreds of recipes over his life, but there are two that he would never give out because one day, when he retired, he鈥檇 bottle it.

A few years ago he left his regular gig as a private wealth advisor and followed through with what he鈥檇 been saying and put Mama Hogg鈥檚 Grilled Caesar Salad Dressing into production.

鈥淚t鈥檚 made from real, whole ingredients and if I can鈥檛 spell it or pronounce it, I won鈥檛 put it in,鈥� said Hoy, who鈥檚 based out a Vernon, but a regular at a number of Okanagan markets.

鈥淚t took me 10 years to develop this recipe and I developed it originally for grilled Caesar salad, where you cook the lettuce on the barbecue.鈥�

His ever-expanding customer base has also innovated over the years, using Mama Hogg鈥檚 as salads, stir-fry sauce, hamburger seasoning, marinade and so on. It can be found at a number of grocery stores in the valley.