THE NIBBLE Gourmet News & Views
Trends, Products & Items Of Note In The World Of Specialty Foods
Read all of our content on TheNibble.com, the online magazine about specialty food.
Archive for Diet Nibbles
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June 25, 2008 at 9:34 am
· Filed under Top Pick Of The Week, Cookies/Cake/Pastry, Gluten-Free
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Great taste and gluten free. So’s the whole line of Mariposa baked treats. From top to bottom: Triple Chocolate Truffle Brownie, Coconut Lemon Square, Mocha Truffle Brownie. Photography by Saidi Granados. |
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This is the first gluten-free product to ever be named a Top Pick Of The Week, and the second “restricted diet” food.* But these brownies, coffeecakes and biscotti are good enough so that anyone can enjoy them and ask for seconds. With more people discovering they have gluten allergies, we want any of your friends and acquaintances who have such restrictions to know about Mariposa Baking Company.
*Divvies Cupcakes, a prior Top Pick, are dairy-free, egg-free and wheat-free. Some other Top Picks are naturally gluten-free because no products containing gluten are used in their production (e.g. olive oil and soft drinks).
Recommended by a NIBBLE reader, this bakery in Oakland, California, is a marvel. We taste quite a bit of gluten-free, sugar-free and fat-free baked goods, hoping to discover ones that taste good enough to recommend to people on restricted diets. Our standards are that they have to be good enough for everyone in the household to enjoy. Whatever magic is being practiced at Mariposa Bakery, these wheat-free, gluten-free brownies, biscotti and coffeecakes can be enjoyed by anyone. |
So even if gluten-free isn’t your food focus, take a minute to think of someone who will appreciate you forever for forwarding this review. Read more about Mariposa’s delectables in the full review. And take a look at more of our favorite baked goods in THE NIBBLE’s Cookies, Cakes & Pastries Section. |
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April 11, 2008 at 1:33 pm
· Filed under Gluten-Free, Pasta
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| Nothing makes us happier than a good lasagna—and this one will make people on gluten-free diets extremely happy. Made by Food Matters, a company that makes frozen prepared foods catering to dietary needs, we’d be happy to fill our freezer with these. Then, when we have a lasagna jones—often—we’d have a Food Matters lasagna piping hot in 20 minutes, rather than the alternative (spend three hours making our own, or take a long cab ride downtown to the one place in town that makes better lasagna than we do). The meatballs (not shown) also rock. Food Matters will deliver overnight to anywhere in the U.S. If you have friends with gluten allergies, they’ll love this gift! Read our full review in the Pasta Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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So good, so gluten-free. No one will realize it, though: It tastes like any really good lasagna.
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March 7, 2008 at 4:12 pm
· Filed under Diet Nibbles, NutriNibbles, Freebies
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| We’re big fans of Organic Valley dairy products, and buy the milk, butter and cream cheese whenever we can. In additional to any health and environmental concerns, they just taste better than non-organic products (make your next cheesecake with organic cream cheese and see the difference). Now, you can save $1.00 on four different items by printing the coupons online at OrganicValley.com. Try the milk (whole, lowfat, fat free, soy, lactose-free and single-serve, which includes chocolate milk), butter, cottage cheese, table cheeses and cooking cheeses (15 varieties,from mozzarella and Cheddar to slices and shreds). The butter and several of the cheeses (blue, Cheddar, Colby) have racked up some impressive awards, as well. There’s a store locator on the site that tells you where to redeem your coupons. |
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Save money on organic milk, butter and cheese. |
| See more of our favorite dairy products—yogurt, eggs and cheese—in the Cheese, Butter & Yogurt Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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February 25, 2008 at 1:20 pm
· Filed under Beverages, Sugar-Free, Tip Of The Day
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| If you can’t find the flavored water you want in a store—or if you want to save the amount of plastic you consume—you can make it yourself and save both money and the environment. Refill a 16-ounce water bottle with water and start by adding 5 drops of flavor extract (from the spice department) with a clean medicine dropper. We love making mint water this way! If you want to sweeten your water, add a few drops of low-glycemic agave syrup (you’ll find it in the supplements department of natural food stores), or use a liquid non-caloric sweetener. Read about the water that inspired us to make our own, Hint Water, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week. Find more of our favorite waters in the Bottled Water Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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We made mint water with mint extract, and added a spring of fresh rosemary and a lemon wheel to layer the flavor. Great taste, zero calories. |
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February 24, 2008 at 7:32 am
· Filed under Diet Nibbles, Tip Of The Day, Academy Awards
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| It’s too easy to pile on the calories over a long evening of watching the Oscars. So eschew the nachos and feature some healthy snacks. For a “diet” menu, start with crudités and a nonfat yogurt and spinach dip (mix thawed, drained frozen spinach with dry vegetable or onion soup for seasoning). Move to chicken skewers with lots of mushrooms, peppers and onions. For dessert, get a jumbo fruit basket from Edible Arrangements: it’s great taste and glamour, all-in-one. Read our review of Edible Arrangements, and find other gourmet diet products in the Diet Nibbles section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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 An Edible Arrangements fruit basket. |
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February 23, 2008 at 8:54 pm
· Filed under Gourmet News, Diet Nibbles, NutriNibbles
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It’s all raw: Nothing cooked above 118°F.
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One of the most visible names in raw food, Roxanne Klein, broke hearts in 2004 when she closed her famous Marin County temple to gourmet raw food cuisine. Since then, Klein has spent time designing a retail line of grab-and-go raw foods called Roxanne’s Fine Cuisine, that just rolled out at Whole Foods Markets in Northern California. Raw food is a more stringent form of vegan cuisine. Not only is there no dairy or eggs, but no gluten is consumed and nothing cooked above 118°F to preserve nutrients. Many dishes are nut-based, and many of the nuts are sprouted by overnight soaking, which breaks down the enzyme inhibitors so that the protein in the nuts can be assimilated. The soaked nuts can also be puréed into spreads. |
Roxanne’s initial line of 34 items includes a sweet, non-oat granola made of sprouted buckwheat, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and goji berries; a dried corn-cashew-pistachio trail mix; garlic and onion-flavored spreadable nut cheese; a smooth, mild-flavored nut hummus; and pinwheel sandwiches, desserts and sandwich spreads made from nuts and soy. Klein’s goal is to create foods that are so delicious that people will be willing to try them, whether they understand or believe in the philosophy of eating raw or not. As one of the lucky people who dined at her restaurant in Larkspur, we can attest that everything was delicious—and gorgeous, to boot. Now, we hope that her cuisine makes it from Whole Foods Markets in Northern California across country to us.
Read more about raw food. |
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February 15, 2008 at 8:07 am
· Filed under Diet Nibbles, Snacks, Desserts & Ice Cream, Recipes, Sugar-Free, Tip Of The Day
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| If you’re ready to switch gears after chocolate-filled Valentine’s Day festivities, fruit kabobs with yogurt dip are a sweet transition—low-calorie and healthy, too. For a snack or light dessert, simply skewer pineapple chunks, melon balls, berries, grapes, orange segments—whatever catches your eye in the produce section—in interesting patterns (or, serve them as fruit salad). You can make an easy yogurt dip from one cup of vanilla yogurt, 2 tablespoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. The diet dip version substitutes plain, fat-free yogurt and 2 packets of sweetener—hold the honey. Our favorite plain, fat-free yogurt, FAGE Total, is so delicious, we’re happy with the fat-free version. Read our review of FAGE Total Yogurt. Find more low-calorie foods in the Diet Nibbles Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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Make fruit kabobs with berries, grapes, pineapple, etc.; or just enjoy this delicious and healthy snack as a fruit salad with yogurt topping. |
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February 6, 2008 at 12:06 pm
· Filed under Salts/Seasonings, Diet Nibbles
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 In the freezer, ready to thaw.
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Having fresh herbs in one’s kitchen at all times is a nice fantasy, but in reality, those pricey herbs often wither away before they are put to use (or, before the three-quarters of them that remain after you’ve used the first few tablespoons’ worth are used). Daregal Gourmet has solved our fresh herb woes with herbs that are pre-chopped, frozen and packed in space-saving boxes. Take out the amount you need, let it thaw, and it tastes almost as good as fresh herbs—and a whole lot better than dried herbs. They jazz up bland pasta, meat or fish dishes and also serve as lovely plate garnishes (see our article, Garnish Glamour for additional tips). They work well with vegetables too. Our favorites are the individual herbs (basil, cilantro and parsley) but people who enjoy spice blends can opt for Grilling, Italian and Original. Find a store locater on the website, DaregalGourmet.com. Find more of our favorite spices in the Salts & Seasonings Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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January 22, 2008 at 8:53 am
· Filed under Diet Nibbles, Tip Of The Day
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| Restricting your food intake to meet those weight loss goals? Treat yourself to beautiful dishes, cups, and glasses. What you eat will look more exciting and taste that much better. Even a cup of plain yogurt looks tempting in a beautiful red bowl (don’t forget a sprig of dill). It’s how they make the most meager victuals look wonderful at the poshest spas. Take a look at some of our favorite dishes. They also make entertaining more fun. |
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 Glass plates from European Sources Direct. |
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January 17, 2008 at 7:06 pm
· Filed under Diet Nibbles, Cheese/Yogurt/Dairy, Tip Of The Day
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| Coincidentally, today’s tip rides on the tail of yesterday’s goat’s milk food find. If you’re lactose intolerant, or have guests who are, it’s generally due to the larger protein molecules in cow’s milk that are more difficult to digest. Goat’s milk and sheep’s milk have smaller, more easily digestible molecules. Serve those cheeses along with mozzarella di bufala, made from water buffalo’s milk. The same principle applies to yogurt. Redwood Farms (goat), Old Chatham Sheepherding Company (sheep) and Spoondance Creamery (it can still be found under its former name, Woodstock Water Buffalo Yogurt) make delicious yogurts. Read more about these products in the Cheese Section of THE NIBBLE online magazine. |
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A fresh goat cheese round covered with chives from Cypress Grove Chevre, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week. Read our review—we’re maaad about it.
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