The Better Bean Company
The Better Bean Company of Portland, Oregon (why are there so many cool food companies based out of Portland?) considers beans an essential part of fine and healthy cuisines but also realizes that most people don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen cooking beans and adding just the right amount of spices to take the beans from bland to delicious. So, they do it for you by making freshly prepared beans that rival the quality and flavor of the best home cooked or restaurant made beans. Read more 
Mexican Chopped Salad
She doesn’t always follow the recipe….
Several weeks ago, my daughter suggested we try a recipe called Mexican Chopped Salad with Green Goddess Dressing by Gwyneth Paltrow. My recollection of Green Goddess Dressing is from the 1970’s when a company called Seven Seas made a shelf-stable bottled version of a salad dressing that typically contains a lot of mayonnaise and sour cream: not something that would appeal to my family. Read more
The “Trader Joe” Bowl
My family calls this meal in a bowl the “Trader Joe” Bowl because the main ingredients are purchased from Trader Joe’s. Years ago, my sister-in-law told me to go to Trader Joe’s because their stores sell the best avocados and they truly do. I’ve bought avocados from grocery stores and gourmet markets and the quality has never come close to the ones sold at Trader Joe’s. Rich, creamy and delicious, the avocados are consistently excellent and so I make a twice-weekly trip to Trader Joe’s to buy 4-5 avocados at a time (we eat a lot of avocados). Although the avocados are often hard and green when I buy them, they ripen in 3-4 days. Read more
Fig Food Soups
The Fig Food Company makes nine delicious, organic plant-based soups that taste just like homemade, which is just what you would expect from a company that uses organic ingredients grown primarily by North American farmers. The first time I read about Fig Food Company, a wave of trust washed over me – and not just because the founder, Joel Henry is an honorable guy who cares passionately about nutrition, organic farming, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, and improving the environment – but because the ingredients list reads like a “who’s who list of what grows on a farm.” So, when I don’t have time to make homemade soup, I rely on soups made by Fig Food Company. Read more
Teriyaki Tofu Rice Bowl
Teriyaki Tofu Rice Bowl is a staple in our home and a dish I make at least once a week. Inspired by The Happy Herbivore‘s recipe for Hawaiian Chickpea Teriyaki, this dish came about one night when everyone in the house had something to say about what ingredients they wanted in a rice bowl. Trying to please the whole group, I made a big bowl of brown rice and then put all the ingredients on the counter top buffet style so each person could make the bowl they wanted. What happened was surprising – everyone wanted all the toppings so we decided to call the dish Teriyaki Tofu Rice Bowl. It’s a winner. Read more
Kitchens of Africa
Some people rely on pre-made sauces while others – like me – are suspicious because many shelf stable sauces contain unwanted ingredients which has led me to always read labels. At the Natural Products Expo this past September, there was a booth with a beautiful woman dressed in native West African clothing giving out samples of African sauces made with natural high quality ingredients. Her name was Jainaba Jeng and she hails from Gambia, went to college in Nova Scotia and then moved in 1997 to Raleigh, North Carolina where she eventually founded Kitchens of Africa, a company dedicated to producing flavorful and authentic African-inspired convenience foods. Read more
Penne with Butternut Squash and Zucchini
Butternut squash is a colorful and nutritious vegetable but also a bit bland and mushy which is why this year-round vegetable is often used as a base for soups or served mashed. Combining butternut squash and pasta may seem like a double mushy idea but the addition of seasonings for flavor, green zucchini for color, and toasted almonds for crunch make for a delicious main course or side dish. Easy to make in a large skillet, the dish takes 30 minutes from start to finish (with 20 minutes of the time allocated to cooking). Read more
Quinoa, Sea Bean, and Tofu Salad
The secret to the flavorful Quinoa, Sea Bean and Tofu Salad lies with a tiny green plant called the Sea Bean. Sea Beans are salt tolerant plants that look like skinny little asparagus sprouts, Grown close to salt water: in marshes, on beaches, or in mangroves, these green plants have a salty flavor which can be toned down if soaked overnight in a bowl of cold water and then rinsed. Read more
Engine 2 Plant Burgers
Whoever said “Real men eat red meat” didn’t taste a burger made by Engine 2, the company founded by Rip Esselstyn, the former fireman whose been on a “plant-strong” diet since 1987. With the firm belief that a burger doesn’t have to be made from red meat, two superstars – Engine 2 and Whole Foods – got together to come up with great tasting, healthy plant-based burgers. Gluten-free with no cholesterol or saturated fat, Engine 2 Plant-Stroong Plant Burgers are flavorful and make one mean burger. Read more
Purely American Foods: Soups, Stews, and Chowders
Several years ago, I stopped buying canned soups and started making my own because I wanted to have soups with no additives and a lower sodium content. Most soups are relatively easy to make but have two challenging aspects: time and flavor. Cutting up vegetables is time-consuming but if a food processor is used, the chopping and mincing is a snap. Onions, celery, and carrots are three very common vegetables used in soups and my mini chopper dices these vegetables in seconds. Read more
Paddock Post 