Tag: produce

Lil’ Cauli, AKA Caulilini

The first time I encountered caulilini on a menu, I thought it was a typo. Who would deliberately construct such a lilting, twee word and expect it to be taken seriously?

No matter what you want to call it, caulilini has earned its place at the table. Long, slender green stems end in delicate white florets that are surprisingly airy, in contrast to the density of conventional cauliflower.

Caulilini: Ancient or Avant Garde?

Curiously, very little information exists about the history of this curious baby brassica. Most point to Mann Packing as the origin of caulilini in the US as we know it, first packaging it for retail consumers in 2019. The truth is, they didn’t invent the vegetable, but they do have one hell of a marketing team.

What Is Caulilini?

Otherwise known as Chinese cauliflower, these elegant stalks have been popular in Asian cuisine for centuries. They developed as the result of natural plant breeding, not genetic engineering or hybridization. It may also go by the name of karifuore, fioretto cauliflower, sprouting cauliflower, and flowering cauliflower, depending on who you ask.

Though still somewhat uncommon in North America, awareness is spreading thanks in large part to Trader Joe’s, who began selling “baby cauliflower” in the produce section about a year ago, making it more accessible than ever before.

Recipe Ideas and Serving Suggestions

Anything cauliflower can do, caulilini can do better. Those might be fighting words, but I’ve personally found it to be true. In raw form, flowering cauliflower has a mildly sweet flavor that’s not as pungent as the common heads. That makes it an excellent crudité to serve with hummus, or tossed into salads and slaws as is.

What’s more, the elegant stalks can easily be swapped in anywhere that broccoli rabe or asparagus is called for. Caulilini’s tender stems and elegant florets are blank canvases that can be painted with any flavors you crave. Beyond herbs and spices, they’re suitable for every single cooking technique under the sun. That means grilling, steaming, sauteing, searing, baking, roasting, deep frying, stir frying, air frying, pickling, even boiling are all fair game.

Caulilini Nutritional Benefits

Like other cruciferous vegetables, it has naturally occurring antioxidants that help fight inflammation and protect against cancer. Notably high in potassium and calcium in particular, as well as dietary fiber and antioxidants, this vegetable can bolster your immune system and support overall well being. Low in calories just like conventional cauliflower, it’s a volume-eater’s dream come true.

Caulilini? Caul It Delicious

While you could do all the same tricks with caulilini as cauliflower, like ricing or mashing, it seems a waste to lose its original beauty. Caulilini is available in stores throughout the summer and into early autumn, so you when you find it, stock up. Happily, it freezes beautifully for year-round enjoyment. Good taste should never go out of season.

Hannah (BitterSweet)6 Comments

Kitchen Confidant

Don’t just veg out; veg UP your meals with Kitchen Pantry.

The only thing better than having a personal chef is having a personal sous chef. When someone else handles the arduous, repetitive, and time-consuming prep work, you’re free to simply create whenever inspiration (or hunger) strikes. That’s where Kitchen Pantry comes in, doing all the shopping, chopping, slicing, and dicing for you. Order raw, fresh ingredients that are ready to cook or eat right away, without any of the typical hassle. Pick from a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, sweet and savory, plus some kitchen staples and fully cooked snacks to satisfy the most urgent cravings.

Sometimes the ease of using such conveniences is the difference between eating a healthy dinner or resorting to a bag of potato chips. It’s one thing to buy four pounds of onions to make French onion soup, and another thing entirely to actually break them down, through tired, tear-filled eyes. There’s no shame in doing what it takes to get healthy food on the table.

It’s also a boon to those who have disabilities that would otherwise prevent them from cooking. Being able to nourish yourself should be a right, not a privilege. Having more options allows greater accessibility for everyone.

Let’s not forget how it helps prevent food waste, too! Cooking for one can be a barrier to investing in fresh produce. Buying a jumbo head of broccoli can be a daunting commitment when you only want a few florets. When you buy only what you need, you get exactly that, and nothing that you don’t. Plus, with all the prep work done for you, there are no unwanted peels, cores, stems, or seeds to contend with.

Make home cooking faster than ordering takeout by starting with perfectly diced mirepoix that’s ready when you are. No measuring needed for those who prefer to rely on instinct rather than written recipes, without any risk of going too far astray.

If you’re more of an all-day grazer, you’ve got lots of crudites and snackable options at your disposal, too. If you want more than immaculate cuts of carrots or cucumbers for dipping into your favorite creamy hummus, here’s another quick fix: Take two seconds to toss together a package of diced tomatoes and tri-color bell peppers, plus a spoonful of minced serranos and garlic. Top with scallions, and just like that, you’ve got instant salsa fresca, fresher and more flavorful that anything you’d find at the grocery store.

Don’t think that the snack selection ends with fresh produce. Kitchen Pantry really strives to fill your whole kitchen with quick, healthy, universally appealing options. Featuring local brands and their less common flavors that may not be widely available, this carefully curated selection is a great way to discover more small businesses. From gourmet popcorn to award-winning olive oil, small-batch tea blends to cocktail mixers, you can easily cut down trips to the store thanks to this expansive assortment.

Unlike other meal delivery solutions, there are no hidden fees and no subscription required for Kitchen Pantry. Additionally, the packaging is fully recyclable, with plans of switching to compostable materials with future funding. What you see is truly what you get: Produce is kept fresh by removing excess oxygen and overnight shipping, not with preservatives or any additives (like salt, acids, or chemicals.)

Kitchen Pantry partners with UPS to reach most of Texas, with plans to drastically expand distribution in response to growing demand. If you’re within range, jump in and start building your cart now. No one has ever regretted getting more fresh, healthy food in their lives.

This post was made possible as a collaboration with Kitchen Pantry. My opinions can not be bought and all content is original. This page may contain affiliate links; thank you for supporting my blog!

Hannah (BitterSweet)3 Comments

Embracing Imperfection

Rarely do New Year’s resolutions resonate with me. Striving to improve one’s health, wealth, or general shortcomings are admirable goals, but the annual effort always feels so contrived. The calendar shouldn’t be the push for these efforts; as is proven year after year, that reminder typically affects change for a month, at best.

2017, however, already seems different. High on my list of personal ambitions is to let go of the perfection fallacy and embrace the beauty in all that is conventionally deemed “ugly.” Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, and I’ve found a whole lot to love in the trend towards buying otherwise unloved, ugly produce. Lemons with blemishes; apples that are too small to meet a buyer’s standards; gnarled carrots that refuse to stand up straight. Otherwise delicious fruits and vegetables are discarded in favor of their immaculate, but often tasteless, brethren.

Imperfect Produce is making big waves in the supply chain to change all that. Delivering boxes on demand directly to consumers’ doors across the bay area, they’ve only been in operation for a little over a year and have already rescued well over 750,000 pounds of otherwise wasted food. Those numbers are no small potatoes (although they have plenty of those to share, too) and promise continue growing at a rapid pace, as they’ve recently announced plans to expand into Los Angeles.

This is where I need to go off script and say that this is not a sponsored post and I did not receive anything for free. I was simply inspired by the mission of this once-small startup, and am beyond thrilled to spread the Imperfect Produce appreciation. When I realized that their warehouse was just a short walk away, I high-tailed it out there to see where all the ugly goodness comes from, and I was welcomed with open arms.

Browsing through the line of workers busily packing food into their designated compostable boxes, the real tragedy is that among the immense stacks of produce, I could hardly pick out any truly unsightly specimen within. Perhaps it’s a case of excess supply or insufficient demand, but some of these were truly stunning edible gems, deemed unfit for sale for reasons no ethical eater could comfortably stomach.

Resolve to do more for the local community, your diet, and your bank account by simply eating uglier. You’ll spend a fraction of the cost that these fruits and vegetables would otherwise command at conventional grocery stores, and better yet, you’ll skip the lines at checkout. If that’s still not enough to convince you, go ahead and take 50% off your first box with the code “SPOON” at checkout. Pick exactly what you want from the current seasonal offerings and trust that no matter what it looks like, it will always be brilliantly fresh and delicious.

The delivery range is limited to us lucky Californians at the moment, but I think the overall message is one we can all get behind for the coming year. Celebrate all of life’s imperfections, no matter what form they may take.

Hannah (BitterSweet)20 Comments

Grab the Melon by Its Horns

Sharply spiked, thorny, and clad in an arresting hue of traffic cone orange, it was clear that this alien fruit was coming home with me from the moment we first met. It was just too bizarre to put back down, despite its pointed protests.

The kiwano, otherwise known as a horned melon, is truly a sight to behold. It becomes even more alluring once cracked open, revealing downright monstrous innards of large seeds suspended in a jelly-like green morass. Best described as an African cucumber, the flavor is quite similar to this familiar vegetable. Some claim to taste notes of banana and lemon as well, suggesting that it would be well suited for both sweet and savory applications. Unfortunately, the truth is considerably more bitter: The gooey mess is impossible to eat out of hand, watery at best but entirely bland at worst, and overall, quite disappointing.

Talk about misjudging a book by its cover!

That said, it has its charm as an exotic garnish, based entirely on its unnerving, almost unnaturally neon hue. Shock and amaze your friends this Halloween by presenting them with a ghastly glass of rice pudding, topped by this exotic produce pick.

You can’t beat it for shock value, but truth be told… You wouldn’t be losing anything in the flavor department if you left out the kiwano. No recipe needed here, as any rice pudding formula will do the trick. However, consider this your warning: While the kiwano does have horns, it certainly won’t bite back.

Hannah (BitterSweet)12 Comments