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Simmer sauces are the equivalent of a lifeline. Need to get dinner on the table quick? Open a jar of simmer sauce and add a protein, some veggies and call it dinner. I keep frozen shrimp in the freezer because it thaws quickly and cooks even quicker. I do the same with frozen vegetables.
I've tried two simmer sauces recently that I would buy again. Trader Joe's Simmer Sauces come in several flavors, and the Korma Simmer Sauce is a kicky blend of tomatoes, a touch of cream, almond butter and spices, including cayenne and cinnamon.
The jar says the serving size is 1/3 a cup but that's too stingy. A half cup is doable, I can easily polish off half the jar myself. If I stuck to the 1/3 cup, it would only be 110 calories and 7 grams of fat, but with my more realistic portion, it's more like 160 calories and 10 grams of fat -- still reasonable when paired with a lean meat or fish and vegetables.
I also like Seeds of Change simmer sauces, specifically the Jalfrezi flavor. The label says it's medium-hot but I'm not sure who was determining that. It's not hot at all. It too is tomato based and contains onions, red bell peppers, a touch of coconut milk and spices like cumin, ginger, and cardamom. It's exotic tasting, and I paired it with shrimp, green beans and ladled it over fragrant, basmati rice.
I think next time I'm shopping, I grab a few more and keep them in the pantry for those nights I just don't feel like putting a lot of effort into dinner.
The problem with soda pops is that they are too sugary sweet, even the diet ones. So imagine my delight when I read about a new kind of soda, called Dry Soda.
Made by a Seattle company, Dry Soda is a refreshing alternative to sickly sweet sodas. It's sexy, with barely a whisper of sweetness from pure cane sugar and each 12 oz. bottle only contains 50 calories.
So far I've tried the Lemongrass flavor and the Rhubarb flavor. Next on my list are the Kumquat and Lavender flavors. I was surprised at how little sweet flavor there was, and the sodas aren't too bubbly, just enough to be refreshing.
The Rhubarb is, um, an acquired taste, but I totally fell in love with the Lemongrass. It's delicately flavored with a subtle undertone of the unique flavor of lemongrass -- not quite lemon, not quite lime, but somewhere in between.
I've heard that Dry Soda is on the verge of releasing two new flavors -- Vanilla Bean and, get this -- Juniper Berry (oh, Gin lovers rejoice!)
I found Dry Soda in 4 packs at Whole Foods. I wish they would package a variety pack, though, so you could get one of each flavor. But at least you only buy 4 at a time, so if you don't like a flavor (eh hm, Rhubarb), you don't have a whole pantry full of them.
The Dry Soda website has recipes for each flavor, and I think I'll take my other three Rhubarb flavors and make Rhubarb Mojitos out of them. Everything goes with rum, right?
There they sit on the window sill, wondering what's to become of them. The middle one is leaning toward the left, as if straining to hear the other one.
They are French Butter pears, and I found them at Whole Foods Market. The sticker says they're from California. Since I'm in Utah at the moment, they didn't have to travel too far, although much further than the peaches I bought yesterday at the farmers market that traveled only 60 miles.
A little research tells me that this pear is also known as Beurre Hardy and is a relative of the Anjou (which isn't my favorite -- that would be Comice). This heritage variety was used almost exclusively for canning up until several years ago, since it doesn't travel well when even the slightest bit ripe. But farmers markets and specialty grocery stores are stocking the French Butter pear when it's grown nearby.
I'm waiting for them to ripen. Pears are one of a handful of fruits that ripen off the tree (bananas, peaches and plums are others), so it's only a matter of days before the flesh around the stem begins to give a little under pressure. By then, I'll be able to detect a delicate, pear fragrance from the bottom end. For now, the butter pears are window dressing. In a few days, they'll be sugary sand in my mouth. Hurry.
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