Eat This Now—Tuesday 01/05/10

Jan 04
2010
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applesYour New Year’s Resolution Goals related to Health and Weight Loss will be EASIER to achieve when you incorporate more fresh fruit and vegetables into your diet. Worried it will be too expensive to eat more fresh produce? Here are some tips to keep you eatin’ fresh and saving money. Check Out Produce Geek’s 10 Ways to EAT MORE Fresh Produce WITHOUT Going Broke.

Best if Used By 01/11/10

Eat This Now for Tuesday January 5, 2010 features: Pink Lady Apples, Gala Apples, Minneola Tangelos, Packaged Salad, and Organic Broccoli.


Pink Lady Apples

1. Pink Lady Apples

Ever heard of ‘em?  Ever tried ‘em?  If not, now is an ideal time to buy and taste this refreshing apple as you tackle your diet, weight loss, nutrition and health related New Years Resolutions.  One of the most dense apple varieties I’ve ever eaten, Pink Lady’s consistently deliver crunch when you bite in and a firm texture as you chew.  The bright flavor is exciting, rather tangy with sweetness underneath and a fresh aftertaste.  This apple is definitely worth a try for good ol’ snackin’ or for cooking with savory ingredients.

Pink Lady is actually a brand of the Cripps Pink variety in which participating growers must meet particular standards to call it “Pink Lady.”  The Cripps Pink variety is a cross between Golden Delicious and Lady Williams apples and originated in Australia in the mid-1980s.  If you find Cripps Pink Apples at your store, go ahead and buy them as they are essentially Pink Lady’s.  Both Organic and Conventional Pink Lady Apples are available from Washington State right now and will be promoted more prominently by discriminating retailers for the next three months as they replace regional varieties that are running out for the season.  As other varieties start to get mushy in storage this time of year, Pink Lady/Cripps Pink stay rock solid.  Now, once you’ve tried one – you’ll be a Pink Lady Insider!

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Gala Apples

2. Gala Apples

Ahhh, the Gala is the Sweetheart of Apple Eaters because it’s not simply a wonderful balance of sweet with a little tartness – it’s crisp too!  Kids love the ‘em for the sweetness, adults prefer them for their combination of flavor and texture.  Sorry Red Delicious, you’re really sweet ‘n all, but you just can’t be relied on for good texture. America is saying “No” to mealy, mushy eating apples.  That’s why Gala is taking a run at King of the apple display.  The fresh crop of Gala’s is already sold out, and what is in stores now is coming out of Controlled Atmosphere storage rooms where the best of the harvest apples were put into virtual hibernation so that apples can still be fresh long after they were picked.  But alas, even the best storage science can’t keep Gala’s perfectly crisp and tasty forever.  To make sure it’s likely to be a good apple, lightly run your thumb across the skin to see if it wrinkles (if it does it’s going to be a disappointment).  So, go buy some Washington, Pennsylvania or New York Gala Apples the next few weeks while they are still at their best, and heck, they might even be on sale too.

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Minneola Tangelos

3. Minneola Tangelos

You may have seen this variety of tangerine before and thought it was a weird looking orange.  The knob-like growth at the stem end of this dark orange citrus fruit is it’s giveaway characteristic.  I think they look funny, but their taste is serious.  Minneola Tangelos are fairly easy to peel, full of fresh flavor and really juicy.  The flavor is sweeter than a grapefruit but more tart than a clementine or mandarin, honey-sweet with a floral acidity at the end.  Still, those are just a bunch of words.  Go try some for yourself – you might discover that Minneolas are a fantastic snack.  Approaching peak harvest, California Minneola Tangelos will be plentiful and high quality through early spring.

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4. Packaged Salad

What better way to start eating better than with salads made with fresh cut lettuces or salad greens!  Stores are advertising packaged salads at deep discounts this week and quality is better.  After a really rough stretch of raw product quality issues and availability in November and December due to weather conditions, fresh cut salad producers are finally hitting on all cylinders just in time for Resolution Season as new planting in the deserts of Yuma, AZ are harvested.  Don’t get stuck in a rut buying the same old blend each shopping trip.  Take a few moments to look at the varieties available at your store and try some new blends.  You may fall in love with a different combination of flavor and texture based on the green and lettuce used.  Variety is the spice of life!

Packaged Salad

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Organic Broccoli

5. Organic Broccoli

Resolving to eat less pesticide and chemical residues this year?  Organically grown bunched Broccoli has been steady in supply the last few weeks and handful of growers are running into small flushes of product this week following the holidays.  Keep an eye out for in-store specials on this healthy and versatile vegetable.

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Forward this to a friend if you think they’ll like it – Here’s to fresh produce!

Here’s to a Healthy New Year!

The Produce Geek,
Jonathan K. Steffy

Written by Produce Geek in: Eat This Now | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATES on all of your Holiday Favorites

Dec 22
2009
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Curious about the fresh ingredients that are on your holiday shopping list?  Based on what I’m hearing from growers and retailers, and seeing on the dock, this is what you can expect at the supermarket Christmas week:

  • Clementines: Take advantage of great pricing with ad features on 5lb Gift Boxes of seedless, easy-peeling Clementines from Spain and Morocco.  Yummm!  In January ads on Clementines will not be as hot and quality will start to wane just a bit.  Satsuma Mandarins from California are an outstanding Made in the USA alternative (even sweeter than Clementines, based on what I’ve tasted the past month).
  • California Navel Oranges: Great quality, pricing and availability on all sizes!  Buy some, enjoy them, give some away for other to enjoy.  Juicy, sweet and healthy!
  • Sweet Potatoes (Yams): See this week’s Eat This Now.
  • Lettuces: Lettuces remain expensive.  Supplies and quality on Iceberg, Romaine, Romaine Hearts, Red Leaf and Green Leaf have improved slightly versus last month.
  • Bagged Salads: Quality has improved with the input product for Bagged Salads so most will hold up well to their expiration date.  But the major snow storm that rocked the East Coast and beyond this past weekend has caused significant disruptions to the supply chain.  Some parts of the country, especially the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic may experience some out-of-stocks on their favorite salads due to trucks with lettuce raw product not making it to the processing facilities in time which has a ripple effect on produce warehouses and the supermarkets they supply.
  • Cranberries: Caution.  All Fresh Cranberries are now actually storage Cranberries from earlier in the fall.  Quality is suspect.  Inspect your bags for soft and decayed berries.  Firm berries are perfectly fine.  It is a store’s goal to be out of Cranberries immediately after Christmas.  Freeze your Cranberries if you want to extend your enjoyment.
  • Green Beans: Quality from Florida has been good on Green Beans, but cold weather has put the brakes on supply this week.
  • Celery: Weather has caused a serious shortage on celery right now and prices have shot through roof!  What’s put on the shelf is good, but this is just not very much celery ready to be harvested in the fields.  Many supermarkets planned their ads weeks in advance and put celery at a discount, so go ahead and take advantage if you can.  If not on ad, celery and celery hearts are almost double the average price.
  • Broccoli and Broccoli Crowns: Quality is just OK.  The crown size has been a bit small and pricing firm, but if they look good – buy.
  • Cauliflower: OK quality, pricing will be higher than usual.
  • Romanesco: This specialty vegetable looks like a Christmas tree green cauliflower.  If you find it – buy it.  Steam and serve with butter.
  • Brussels Sprouts: Delicious flavor, solid quality.  Try some holiday – roasted or blanched then sauteed!
  • Asparagus: See this week’s Eat This Now.
  • Red, Gold, Idaho, White Potatoes: Quality and appearance on Red and Gold Potatoes is awesome!  For best affordability, choose Idaho Russets (best for mashing) and White Potatoes.
  • Spanish Yellow Onions: Great quality. Great pricing.  Get cookin’!
  • Carrots/Baby Carrots: Baby Peeled and Bagged Carrots have decent quality with affordable pricing.  Bunched Carrots with tops are good too.
  • Broccoli Rabe: Nice choice this week for a bold side dish, though pricing is strong.
  • Anise (Fennel): Major shortage due to cool weather.  Product will be expensive and small.
  • Artichokes: Pricing is very high because of lack of availability due to cold weather which causes discoloration artichoke.  This discoloration is referred to as “Frost Kissed” and is said to actually improve the flavor.
  • Baking Apples: All of your favorites are good to go:  McIntosh, Empire, Cortland, Red Rome, Granny Smith and Braeburn.
  • Dessert Pears: Storage Bartletts are winding down, in fact Organic Bartletts are done for the season.  Juicy Green and Red Anjous, Crunchy Bosc and Sweet Comice (The Christmas Pear) are fantastic options.
  • Fresh Herbs: Buys some.  Fresh Herbs like bay leaves, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme make the difference for holiday recipes.
  • Italian Chestnuts: Go ahead, try out an old-fashioned recipe because quality is great.  But this is you last chance to enjoy fresh Chestnuts.  After Christmas, most stores hope to be sold out for the seasons.
  • White Mushrooms: Look for aggressive holiday promotions, especially on jumbo-sized stuffing mushrooms.
  • Baking Nuts (Pecans, Walnuts, Almonds): 2009′s crop is available in-shell.  2008′s crop shelled and ready for use.  Go nuts – bake away!
  • Cooking Greens: Conventional Collards and Kale were steady on the East Coast until this past weekend.  Prices may jump up a bit.  Organic Collards, Kale and Lacinato are expensive and tighter in supply.
  • Tomatoes: Florida round Tomatoes are still high in price but showing signs of dropping in price and improving in quality.  Grape Tomato quality is great and flavor is good.  Look for in-store specials on Grape Tomatoes.
  • Grapes: Expensive, expensive, expensive.  New crop Seedless Grapes from Chile will be coming in January.
  • Persimmons: Some growers are still promoting deals from a heavy crop, but this season is winding down.  Fuyu variety you can eat right away, but Hachiya need to be soft-ripe.
  • Pomegranates: Supplies of fresh Pomegranates are just about sold out for the season.  Quality is so-so.  Don’t worry, the juice is available bottled all year.
  • Gold Pineapple: See this week’s Eat This Now
  • Medjool Dates: Awesome flavor, sweetness and quality from California.  So delicious they deserve to be on the cookie plate.
  • Dried Figs: Black Mission and Calmyrnia varieties available dried.
Written by Produce Geek in: Announcements | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,