Saturday, December 31, 2022

Resolution check-in: Could the tools and tastes make it happen?



Aren’t you just craving some fresh veggies after all this seasonal indulgence? January makes me want to stir fry onions and carrots. What a great way to use up that New Year’s cabbage. If you’ve ever thought “If I just had that (fill in the blank)” tool or food to kick start your healthy eating, consider these goodies:

 Could someone pick up some of those maroon and yellow carrots for me? I want my cutting board experience to be just like the photo on the Gardinnovations Culinary Cutting Board box. When was the last time cutting veggies excited you? Hopefully it was last summer when your Southeast Texas garden came to harvest. Your home-growns deserve this sustainable Acacia wood board with knife sharpening stones built into both sides. I also want the fresh rosemary for the built-in mortar and pestle. Just grind your peppercorns, salts, etc. in the corner of the board. A recessed compartment is where you can scrape your fancily-cut veggies until you have enough for the next step. You may just want to keep cutting on this board. Here’s to healthy eating in 2023. www.mygardinnovations.com

 Raise your hand if you’ve ever drizzled vinegar over your ice cream. I can’t actually see you, but I’m sure some Culinary Thrill Seekers have drizzled something like thick, sweet Ponti Balsamic Vinegar of Modena over premium vanilla bean ice cream for an elevated treat. Or at least heard of doing it. Decades ago I learned balsamic vinegar was part of dowries and started paying attention. Ponti has a line including truffle and cherry varieties that is perhaps even more fancy than is commonly found. I’ve spent a week drizzling it over fruits, vegetables and breads and will soon work my way into roasted meats and more. Their site guides readers to the medical and Biblical references of vinegar and explains how to look out for maturity, must and density. Even knowing something about balsamic, I was not prepared for the unleashing of sensatory pleasure from these bottles. Resolution? Play with vinegar. www.ponti.com

 Bamnut anyone? – A Noodbox has brightened my life. Quick-cooking noodle cakes that are full of flavor and healthy stuff have arrived from WhatIF Foods to color my world. Charcoal, green and orange noodles have notes of mushroom pepper, sesame garlic and cheeky curry. Barista and Everyday are milk varieties that come through. REplenish, REstore and REconnect is what they're up to, in a Planet Positive kind of way. I can’t say enough good things about the noodles from the “nood box.” Regenerative crops of Bambara groundnuts get the credit. https://whatif-foods.com/

 Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie with a January birthday. Do you know how tough that makes resolution season? darraghcastillo@icloud.com

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