Great Food Discoveries of 2023
2023 has been a banner year in my kitchen with 8 really great plant-based food discoveries made throughout the year including ice cream, chocolate, soup, cheese, granola, nuts, and salami. All 8 of these companies deserve a food Oscar for their healthy and delicious creations. Read more 
L’Artisane Creative Bakery in Miami Beach
When I made the transition from a vegetarian to a plant-based diet, there were foods I never thought I would ever eat again. One of those foods was a croissant: that exquisite French pastry known for its buttery layers of flaky baked dough, a crunchy exterior and a chewy melt-in-your-mouth interior. Without butter, how could a croissant be a croissant? And, so I thought my croissant days were over. Read more
10 Great Holiday Food Gifts for 2019
Holidays are all about enjoying food so there is no better time to give a palate pleaser than now. Not everyone is a foodie but nearly everyone appreciates wholesome, delicious food like pure maple syrup, colossal roasted cashews, creamy, rich peanut butter cups or almond cups, award winning crispy potato chips made with extra virgin olive oil, dark chocolate mint meltaways, fresh fruit, and chewy, sweet dates. To wash all that down, consider Fever Tree drinks: tonic, club soda, or ginger ale. Read more
P.S. Kitchen in NYC
Finding P.S. Kitchen in New York City is definitely on my top ten list of notable discoveries in 2019. That the restaurant is in midtown (246 W 48th Street between 7th and 8th Ave) makes the discovery surprising because I rarely venture into midtown Manhattan when I visit the city: too many people, too many lights, too much noise. But, on a recent visit after an afternoon matinee on Broadway, I walked a few blocks and secured the front table by the window – an incredible table if you can get it. Walking in at 4 pm – an off hour – definitely increases your chances of snagging this front row light filled beautiful table with a cushioned bench and chair surrounding a picture perfect white table (below right in photo). Read more
The Coconut Sugar Peanut Butter Cup
The peanut butter cup is one of America’s fave treats for good reason: rich, creamy peanut butter enrobed in luscious chocolate is an unbeatable combination loved by adults and children alike. There’s really nothing quite like a peanut butter cup, especially one made by Eat Chic Chocolates of Brooklyn, New York.
The company’s classic peanut butter cup – the Peanut Butter Cup with Sea Salt (made with 71% dark chocolate) – is exquisite but its the Coconut Sugar Peanut Butter Cup that’s garnering lots of attention. Why you ask? Because this peanut butter cup has only 2 grams of sugar (unrefined coconut sugar) per peanut butter cup (compared to 8 grams in the same sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup).
The Coconut Sugar Peanut Butter Cup is a healthier and more delicious version of the quintessential peanut butter cup, especially if your passion is for dark chocolate and a peanut butter cup that isn’t overly sweet.
These peanut butter cups are made with 3 major ingredients:
Oat Bars
One of the challenges of eating a plant-based diet is finding ways to make desserts with little or no oil and no refined sugar. But, the challenge is deeper than that because a truly nutritious treat is also about what is included. Ideally, ingredients that stand alone as nutritious and delicious.
I started with a recipe called Pumpkin Seed and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Bars by Dreena Burton and adapted the ingredients to come up with a recipe for Oat Bars that contain whole grain oats, whole grain oat flour, seeds, nuts, spices, date syrup, dark chocolate chips, and non-dairy milk. Basically, these bars are whole-grain and plant-based with no dairy, no oil, no refined sugar, and no eggs.
Oat Bars have a base of rolled oats and oat flour whose flavor is enhanced with what I call “the big 3” – pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and dark chocolate chips. The big 3 are simply three wholesome ingredients that are super tasty together. But, if you find raisins, walnuts, and sunflower seeds more to your liking, make a substitution. Read more
Dr-Cow Raw Chocolate Bricks
One of the great benefits of following a plant-based diet is enjoying dark chocolate whose subtle differences in taste, texture, and aroma become more pronounced over time. Acquiring a taste for dark chocolate evolves but once you’ve come to appreciate the purity and intensity of dark chocolate, you’ll never want to eat milk chocolate ever again. The difference is really that striking.
Dr-Cow, a small storefront in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn is known for making organic, raw, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, and soy-free food products, especially tree nut cheese, granola, biscotti, crackers, desserts, and chocolates. Read more
Almond Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Crumble
It’s like eating cookie dough, only better.
Almond Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Crumble is a chewy, delicious, and nutritious topping that take minutes to make, a few hours to chill and seconds to devour. With only six ingredients: almond butter, whole grain oats, almonds, maple syrup, chocolate chips, and a touch of salt, Almond Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Crumble is the perfect topping for baked fruit, oatmeal, whole grain cereals, or ice cream because it satisfies a sweet craving while providing lots of nutrients and fiber without added refined sugar or flour. Read more
The Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup by Eat Chic Chocolates
Nearly 100 years in 1928, Harry Burnett (“HB”) Reese created the peanut butter cup – that quintessential combination of chocolate and peanut butter that became one of America’s favorite candy confections. Although the classic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup will always hold a special place in culinary history, dozens of variations have since been created based on the simple idea of blending chocolate with a nut butter to make the ultimate candy treat.
My personal favorite peanut butter cup is made by Eat Chic Chocolates – a Brooklyn-based company that specializes in handcrafted chocolate filled with house made nut and seed butters. Read more
Consider Brandless™
Brandless™ is a relatively new company launched in July, 2017 that focuses on better access to better quality (i.e. Non-GMO, organic) goods at a more competitive price.
Instead of relying on grocery stores for common household goods (i.e. beans, ketchup, mustard, maple syrup, tomato sauce, jam, dried fruits and nuts, grains, rice, peanut butter, and more), consumers can buy directly from Brandless™ – a company that sources their goods directly from suppliers.
There are no distribution costs, wholesale to retail markups, shelf stocking fees, breakage and settlement costs, and no retail marketing costs because the supplier is linked directly with Brandless™ who delivers the goods directly to the consumer, for free (orders over $39 are shipped free, otherwise shipping is a flat rate of $6). Read more
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