There’s a new flower in the garden of Ayala’s Herbal Water. Lemon Verbena Germanium smells and tastes just like geraniums accented with lemon verbena (which some will recall as Ellen O’Hara’s—mother of Scarlett—favorite scent). Like the rest of the flavors, it’s refreshing, delightful and wonderfully different.

Ayala’s infuses organic garden herbs, blended with spices and citrus peel, into purified water to create innovative flavor profiles. We love this line; it complements food so much better than other flavored waters. The rest of the line includes Cinnamon Orange Peel, Clove Cardamom Cinnamon, Ginger Lemon Peel, Lavender Mint Lemongrass Thyme and Lemongrass Mint Vanilla. The first three are wonderful Thanksgiving flavors, especially welcomed by guests who don’t drink.

Ayala’s Herbal Water has zero calories and is certified USDA Organic and OU kosher. It is available at HerbalWater.com and at retailers nationwide, including Central Market, Food Emporium, Giant, HEB, Raley’s, Safeway, Wegmans, Whole Foods Market and many natural food and specialty food stores.

It’s different and it’s delicious! Photo courtesy of Ayala’s.

For a special, flavorful yet low-calorie and healthy appetizer, slice blocks of soft Japanese tofu and sprinkle them with toasted black sesame seeds, soy sauce and nori flakes. For even more flavor, add bonito flakes. Arrange on a large platter and let guests help themselves, or serve individual plates with two slices (the tofu looks especially beautiful on Asian-style dishes). If your regular supermarket doesn’t have an Asian products section, buy nori and bonito flakes at an Asian grocer. As with any condiment, a good brand of soy sauce makes a big difference.

• Read our review of the best soy sauces.

Don’t come near our jar of Mezzetta Deli-Sliced Tamed Jalapeño Peppers—we’re saving them all for ourselves. Our favorite new condiment, these pickled jalapeño slices solve a problem as they add exciting new flavor to franks, burgers, sandwiches (any, but don’t forget grilled cheese!), salads, omelets, dips, relish trays and as long a list of savory foods as you can imagine—especially that obvious choice, nachos. Add a few to any plate as a zesty garnish.

We like jalapeño, but biting into even a small bit of a fresh one is a bit too much bite for us: too much burn, and when you’re in the food-tasting business, that takes out the taste buds for more time than we have to be out of commission. We promise, you need have no fear when you bite into these. Plus, they’re sugar-free and are a dieter’s dream: 5 slices for 7 calories. They’re certified kosher by KSA.

Mezzetta also sells the same product unsliced, called Tamed Jalapeño Peppers En Escabeche, as well as numerous other varieties of whole and deli-sliced peppers. (In the Shop Online section of the website, the sliced variety can be found under Deli-Sliced and the whole peppers are under Imported & Domestic Peppers). We look forward to trying the others, but in the interim, thanks to G. L. Mezzetta of Napa Valley for this new discovery.

These jalapeño slices have been “tamed” by pickling—and are delicious on just about
anything. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

Half the fat doesn’t mean you can eat twice
as much! Be sure to check the calories, too—
some brands of “light” ice creams have more
calories and sugar than other brands of “regular.”

Our friends at Consumer Reports have been dipping into the light ice cream to give you the scoop on light ice cream (in the July 2009 issue). By law, a “light” ice cream must have one-third the calories or half the fat of a brand’s regular ice cream.

The taste test compared three light ice creams with their regular counterparts, and also tried Häagen-Dazs Five, which isn’t marketed as a light ice cream but has a third less fat than regular Häagen-Dazs. The comments:

The light ice cream versions can also be less costly. Per half-cup serving, the lighter brands from Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s were less expensive as well as having far fewer calories. However (and there’s always a “however”), the term “light” is relative. The lighter Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry tried actually have more calories and sugars than the regular Edy’s/Dreyer’s and Breyers varieties.

Tequila
Tequila adds a piquant bite to mellow, sweet pineapple. The subtle tang of fresh lime juice and a mounting heat towards the finish make for an excellent overall flavor.

Mrs. Renfro’s Pineapple Salsa.

Pomegranate
Many products claiming to be pomegranate-flavored end up tasting like anything but. Not so with this salsa. The fruit shines clearly through the rich, smoky chipotle without so much as a peep from artificial flavoring. The lingering sweet-hot afterburn will have you immediately reaching for another chip.

The verdict: we’re more than likely to dip into these again!

• See more of our favorite salsas.
• Read the history of salsa.
• See our favorite gourmet tortilla chips.

- Read our review of Vitalicious Muffins.

- Find more of our favorite diet products in the Diet Nibbles section of TheNibble.com.

We recently tasted all seven chocolate varieties in one sitting and found the original Deep Chocolate to have the most satisfying chocolate flavor (it contains chocolate chips). In retrospect, that’s not much of a surprise: the semisweet chocolate flavor of the chips is taken away when white chips, PB chips, pomegranate and fig are substituted in the other flavors.

Vitalicious, the manufacturer apprises us that you can walk off the 80-100 calorie VitaTops in 13-15 minutes. Share a muffin top, coffee and a stroll with a friend.

A box of chocolate VitaTops goes on our list of Valentine gifts for people you love too much to send a box of chocolate. Gift certificates are available. Read the full review at http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/nutri/breadstuffs/vitalicious-vitamuffin.asp.

This month, THE NIBBLE reviews gluten-free Cupola Cookies and Cupola Clouds cheese bites. An index to all of our gluten-free foods can be found in our Diet Nibbles Section.

-Beef Sirloin With Cranberries & Blueberries has excellent beef flavor with a nice natural sweetness from the dried fruit. There’s a light pepperiness. The nutrition label: calories from fat, 15; total fat 2g; saturated fat .5g; trans fat 0g; cholesterol 15mg; sodium 286 mg (12% DV); total carb 4g; sugars 2g; protein 10g; vitamin A, 0% DV, vitamin C, 0% DV; iron 2% DV.

-Skinless Chicken Breast With Black Bean Salsa & Wisconsin Cheddar has real black bean flavor and heat from the “salsa” component, although there’s no prominent flavor of Cheddar—not that it’s needed. The nutrition label: calories from fat, 10; total fat 1g; saturated fat 0g; trans fat 0g; cholesterol 20mg; sodium 340 mg (14% DV); total carb 1g; sugars 0g; protein 12g; vitamin A, 4% DV, vitamin C, 2% DV; calcium 2% DV; iron 2% DV.

Read THE NIBBLE’s article on the best gourmet jerky.