Best and Worst Processed Foods of 2007

Even though I cook mostly from scratch just about every night, I am a bit of a processed foods junkie. Even if I’m not eating them (and I think I’ve only tried one of the products on this entire list), I like to learn more about them to see if they’re something I might want to try.

After all, frozen vegetables and many of the nutrition-oriented foods sold at health-food stores are processed foods themselves. Plus, back a few months ago when I was working at school five days a week, I often would pick up stacks of frozen dinners at the supermarket to pack as my lunches (hey, they were fast to pull out in the morning, didn’t require prep in the evenings when I was tired, and tasted a lot better than the slop they served the kids).

So below I’ve linked to this year’s best- and worst-of list from the newspaper column Supermarket Sampler. I started reading it back when I interned at the Orange County Register and had access to the wire feeds for spare-moment perusing. This list gives you a top ten from both a nutritionist’s perspective and a junk foodie’s perspective, so there’s something for everyone.

And also below, I’ve quoted the bit about the one product I’ve tried. I bought them earlier this year at Trader Joe’s, and though I think they had been store-branded, I know they were still the same. What this mini-review doesn’t mention is the show you get with these puppies — the spectacular “pop!” coming from your microwaves as the egg whites expand and even lift the lid off the little plastic tub. Much fun. They are tasty and convenient.

uExpress.com: Supermarket Sampler:

Eggology On-the-Go Eggs. Fresh, unadulterated egg whites in single-serve microwavable cups for on-the-go folks who are trying to cut down on the fat and cholesterol in whole eggs.

Easy Bean Patties

Meat is a difficult proposition here in Slovakia. Well, at least for me.

The Slovaks are a pork-loving people. I am decidedly anti-pork (with the exception of bacon and some sausage). The Slovaks also are fond of many meats that are uncommon in American supermarkets, such as goose, venison, and duck. I just can’t face any new meats.

Not to mention the tradition here of buying a live carp for Christmas dinner, keeping it alive in the bathtub until that fateful supper. Thank goodness those vendors are gone for the year.

Anyway, this long-winded dissection of foreign culinary habits is meant only as a justification for my looking into ways to create protein-packed main dishes without resorting to cultivating a taste for pigeon.

For everyone else, bean burgers are still a great idea for everyday dinners as they are high in fiber as well as protein and, oh yeah, cheap. Even if you do find chicken or ground beef for $3 a pound on sale, it doesn’t beat a can of beans at about $0.50 to $1.

I found this recipe on the site promoting Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything series of cookbooks. Specifically, it comes from the new book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which was on my wish list for this Christmas.

I had an extra can of chickpeas in the cupboard from a side dish I forgot to make, so that became the base for our patties. Because this was the first time I was trying this recipe, I didn’t go with any of the suggested variations such as adding cheese (I’ve made veggie patties from scratch only once in my life, and the result was nearly disastrous).

On the other hand, I didn’t have any cheese to add. In fact, after I’d already started adding things to the mixing bowl, I realized that I did not have an egg, either. I’d used the last ones the night before to make French toast, forgetting I was supposed to reserve one. Oops.

I ended up adding a tablespoon of mayonnaise to the mix, figuring that at least that spread contains egg. Bittman does suggest some vegan alternatives for binding, but it seemed odd to add another half-cup of oatmeal and too much trouble to make mashed potatoes or rice from scratch just for this recipe. The mayo turned out to work just fine as a binder, fortunately.

I also had to vary the recipe slightly as far as the method went. I don’t have a blender or food processor here, so instead I chopped the onion as finely as I could and then had at the mixture with our potato masher. It took a good bit longer than the food processor would have, but with enough effort it became a uniform mush.

The patties we ended up with perhaps could have used some more seasoning, but we enjoyed them with sauces that provided the extra kick. Scott spread his with ketchup and whole-grain mustard, whereas I dipped mine in some tartar sauce as if I were having some fried cheese. We ate them without buns or bread this time, but they are solid enough to be used as hamburger substitutes.

I’m going to try making some with kidney beans soon. And this time, I’m so going to remember the egg.

The Simplest Bean Burger
Source: Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Yield: 4 to 6 patties

• 2 cups well-cooked white, black, or red beans or chickpeas or lentils, or one 14-ounce can, drained (I used chickpeas/garbanzo beans.)
• 1 medium onion, quartered (I used half a large onion, chopped fine.)
• ½ cup rolled oats (preferably not instant)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder or spice mix of your choice (I used taco seasoning.)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg (I used one tablespoon of light mayonnaise.)
• Bean-cooking liquid, stock, or other liquid (wine, cream, milk, water, ketchup, etc.) if necessary (I added a little water.)
• Extra virgin olive oil or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn, as needed (I used nonstick olive-oil spray.)

1. Combine the beans, onion, oats, chili powder, salt, pepper, and egg in a food processor and pulse until chunky but not puréed, adding a little liquid if necessary (this is unlikely but not impossible) to produce a moist but not wet mixture. Let the mixture rest for a few minutes if time allows.

2. With wet hands, shape into whatever size patties you want and again let rest for a few minutes if time allows. (You can make the burger mixture or even shape the burgers up to a day or so in advance. Just cover tightly and refrigerate, then bring everything back to room temperature before cooking.) Film the bottom of a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet with oil and turn the heat to medium. A minute later, add the patties. Cook until nicely browned on one side, about 5 minutes; turn carefully and cook on the other side until firm and browned.

3. Serve on buns with the usual burger fixings. Or cool and refrigerate or freeze for later use.

Notes:
Simplest Vegan Bean Burger. Many options: Omit the egg, obviously. Add 1/2 cup Mashed Potatoes; or 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal or short-grain rice (white or brown); or 1/4 cup miso or 1/2 cup tofu.

Bean-and-Cheese Burger. As a flavor-adder, cheese can’t be beat, plus there are two bonuses: You don’t have to mess with melting cheese on top of the burger, and-for the most part-it acts as a binder. Add 1/2 to 1 cup grated Parmesan, cheddar, Swiss, Jack, mozzarella, or other cheese to the mix (you can omit the egg if you like).

Bean-and-Spinach Burger. Of all the veggies you can add to a burger, I like spinach. You can leave it uncooked and just shred it if you prefer (figure about 2 cups), but this gives better results; it’s great with a little garlic added: Squeeze dry and chop about 1 cup cooked spinach (you’ll need about 8 ounces of raw spinach to start, or you can use frozen spinach); add it to the mix and proceed with the recipe.

Bean-and-Veggie Burger. Many options, but don’t overdo it or the burger will fall apart: Add up to 1/2 cup carrots, bell peppers, shallots, leeks, celery, potato, sweet potato, winter squash, zucchini, or a combination. Cut into chunks as you do the onion and grind with the beans or shred or mince and add afterward.

High-Protein Bean Burger. The soy gives it just a little boost: Instead of rolled oats, use rolled soy (soy flakes).

13 Ways to Build Delicious Veggie Burgers

There are more ways to vary the burgers in this section than I can imagine, but here are a few ideas. The basic rules are to make sure the mixture is neither too dry nor too wet (if you find yourself in the first situation, add a liquid ingredient; in the second, add some oats, ground rice powder or flour, cornmeal, flour, bread crumbs, or the like). But as for flavors, the sky’s the limit.

1. Fresh herbs. You can almost not go wrong with fresh herbs, as long as you don’t use overwhelming amounts. Add up to 1/2 cup parsley, basil, or dill leaves; somewhat less of mint, cilantro, or chervil; a tablespoon of oregano or marjoram; or only a teaspoon or so of fresh thyme, tarragon, or rosemary.

2. Dried herbs. Use by the pinch; to really get the seasoning right, taste and adjust it (you can cook a little bit first if you don’t want to taste it raw).

3. Spices. The spice mix-chili or curry powder, for example-is an easy way to go, but you can combine fairly small amounts (usually 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) of various spices as you like. Try, for example, smoked paprika, cumin, and ground chiles; coriander, cumin, ginger, and cardamom; or anything else that appeals to you.

4. Garlic. Can’t go wrong, really. Add 1 teaspoon or more minced garlic to the mix, or a tablespoon or more Roasted Garlic, with a little of its oil.

5. Chiles. For heat, you can simply add cayenne, hot red pepper flakes, or the like. But if you want some texture, you might include 1/4 cup or more roasted (or canned) green or red chiles.

6. Soy sauce or miso. Just a tablespoon or so of soy sauce, but up to 1/4 cup of any miso; you can omit the egg if you like.

7. Ketchup, salsa, or mustard. Up to 1/3 cup of ketchup or salsa (both of which are pretty good); 1 tablespoon or so of Dijon or other mustard.

8. Nuts or seeds. The nice thing about nuts is the crunch. Add 1/4 cup or so of sesame or sunflower seeds and up to 1/2 cup nuts or pumpkin seeds toward the end of the processing so they don’t become too powdery.

9. Lemon, lime, or orange zest. The slight acidity brightens the taste.

10. Tomato paste. A tablespoon or two will give the burgers nice color and a more complex flavor.

11. Mushrooms. Add a tablespoon or so of dried mushrooms, soaked and cooked, as you would any other vegetable (see number 12). Or use up to about 1/2 cup raw, trimmed and added along with the oats and beans.

12. Cooked veggies. Milder flavor, softer texture than raw veggies: Add up to a cup of cooked vegetables- onions, greens, broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash, zucchini-whatever you like. If you use potatoes and add them to the food processor along with the beans, you can omit the egg and oats.

13. Cooked grains. All-grain burgers tend to be mushy and uninteresting, but adding a bit of grains to other burgers results in a terrific light texture. Feel free to add up to a cup of cooked grains, along with the beans. Omit the oats and, if you like, the egg.

So Good Yet So Evil

Morningstar Farms has to be my favorite brand of frozen fake meat products. I used their beef- and sausage-style recipe crumbles a lot living in Vegas, and while I found their plain chicken-style strips to be noxious, I greatly enjoyed the fried chicken-style products. And boy, are those veggie corn dogs tasty, and with only 150 calories per stick, no less!

But sometime in the past couple of years they expanded from fake meats to purely vegetable-based products, and that must be when Satan took over the company.  Because it was then that Morningstar Farms brought out these:

Oh, yeah, baby!

I bought one box out of curiosity. I baked them up for Scott and myself to accompany our dinner one night.

Holy cow. They are full of molten cheesy broccoli goodness, and on top of it they sported a fried breaded coat. Naturally, they were delicious in that wonderful salty, savory way.

But then the evil comes in. Bloody where-Satan-lives, 190 calories for just three? I might as well be eating chicken nuggets.

Morningstar Farms, you have taken innocent, nutritious vegetables such as broccoli and spinach and turned them into foods not out of place on the menu at McDonald’s. And just as addictive.

I must warn you against serving these veggie pockets of evil at your New Year’s Eve celebration. They will bring you nothing but an oh-too-short joy and tight pants.

But if you have innocently purchased a few boxes before I had the chance to warn you of their inherent wickedness, fear not. Just pack them up and sent them by express international overnight mail to me, and I will properly dispose of them for you.

It’s the only way to save your soul.

Snacks for New Year’s

Twelve Under-$20 Ways to Snack Well on New Year’s Eve – A Mighty Appetite:

For me, the key is not whether you curl up at home or venture out into the world — but that the evening is both simple and cheap. Of course, “cheap” is a relative term, but my point here is to be kind to your exhausted holiday wallet and work within your budget.

So far, we don’t have any big plans for New Year’s Eve. I hear there’s some fireworks nearby that we can view from basically right outside our door. We thought about finding a restaurant to visit, but many places close early and the ones that don’t seem to be holding tickets-only parties — parties crowned by a bowl of traditional New Year’s cabbage soup at midnight. Oh, yum.

To make the night special without me having to pull together another holiday feast so soon, Scott’s going to be taking over the kitchen come Monday evening. I haven’t learned yet what will be on the menu, but I’m sure it will be special. I’ll take some pictures to post later!

(via Slashfood)

Soup Showdown! Chicken with Curly Pasta

Though I was raised on canned soup, I’ve come to detest the stuff over the years. Can after can of mushy veggies, disintegrating noodles, and questionable meat, all soaked in a broth that tastes like nothing but liquefied salt, left me disappointed and disillusioned.

Today, soup is a weekly meal in our home, but with a key difference: It is always homemade. Once a week, I cook up a big pot of the stuff, which provides a low-cal but filling dinner and then stretches to fill several lunches throughout the week.

Of course, the soup companies are always coming out with new varieties that sound enticing. So why not take a bit of inspiration from their product lines and create some soups truly worth supping on?

And so here it is — our very first Soup Showdown!

In one corner, we have a contender from Campbell’s, the granddaddy of canned soup companies: Campbell’s Select Roasted Chicken with Rotini & Penne Pasta Soup.

From Campbells.com:

Roasted Chicken with Rotini & Penne Pasta Soup
A delightful twist on traditional chicken soup. Our chef created a memorable soup that is chock full of generous pieces of oven-roasted white-meat chicken, chunky-cut vegetables and a combination of whimsical pasta shapes, all simmered in a rich chicken broth aromatic with savory herbs that will soothe your soul and delight your taste buds!

Campbell’s entrant offers a mere 100 calories per one cup serving, but watch out — there’s 860 mg of sodium in that same one cup! No wonder the stuff tastes so salty. And to think I used to eat almost the whole can at once.

Checking the ingredients, it’s clear that this is your typical chicken noodle soup, albeit with pasta replacing the usual egg noodles. Chicken, celery, carrots, dehydrated onion, garlic, and herbs, broth, seasoning — pretty simple stuff, and easy to improve upon.

Now, I wouldn’t claim that my recipe for this is the ultimate version of chicken soup. I’m not simmering a whole chicken for hours or spending more to buy a bunch of herbs that will rot away in my crisper after I make the soup. I’m certainly not above using a few shortcuts, true, but I also need to think contextually. I’m limited by my time (which I don’t want to spend all of in our tiny, isolated kitchen), my grocery budget (which is small), and, for now, the availability of ingredients at Slovak grocery stores.

Still, following my guidelines here will definitely result in a soup that’s fresher and tastier than anything you can get out of a can. It will take more time and effort upfront, but not any more than you would normally spend on cooking dinner. Plus, this recipe will make a huge batch that, when cooked as a dinner for two, will provide a quick-as-canned and satisfying lunch later on.

Let’s get cooking!

I often start recipes here with some of this olive oil spray. I don’t know exactly if it’s purely oil, but it’s the closest thing we’ve found here to nonstick spray. I like nonstick spray for many reasons, but right now I’m mostly using it to save a handful of calories in everyday cooking. I coated the bottom of my soup pot with a quick spray before I turned the heat on to low.

I had to share the price of these four carrots. For those of you who do not make regular transactions in Slovak korunas, these cost 21 U.S. cents altogether.

Anyway, you should peel each carrot, trim off the yucky ends, and then cut them in half lengthwise so that you have a flat surface on the vegetable for nice, stable slicing. Next, chop them into half moons that are, oh, somewhere between 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch thick. Or between half a centimeter and a whole centimeter thick, if you prefer metric.

Drop all your carrots into the slowly heating pan as you chop them. They’ll start to soften and get a little color as you chop the rest of the vegetables, but they won’t burn as your heat here is very, very low.

Tip: If things do threaten to get smoky, just add maybe half a cup of water to the pot as needed to keep the veggies from sticking to the bottom.

I used a nice, big onion in my soup because I enjoy the sweet flavor of cooked onions. But like any of the ingredients, you can adjust the amount as needed to suit your taste. My chicken soup is kind of heavy on the vegetables because they are low-cal and nutritious filler.

Just dice the onion as small as you like. Cut off the root and tip of the onion, cut the whole thing in half top to bottom, then peel off the outer skin layer. Lay it flat and slice against the grain (but not through the root end — you want to keep it together for now) to divide the onion into . . . columns. Yeah. And then slice crosswise to produce a dice. Don’t worry, the layers come apart as you cook so you don’t end up with enormous chunks.

Looks better than dehydrated onion, no? Dump all the chopped bits in the pot and stir.

Take four cleaned and trimmed celery stalks and . . .

. . . magically turn them into eight by slicing them in half lengthwise! Then chop ‘em up and throw ‘em in the pot with a good stirring.

Mmm . . . mirepoix.

Now I really like garlic, so I used five cloves. The soup doesn’t get an overwhelming garlic flavor, but it does add good depth to the broth. If a bunch of little pieces of garlic floating around is going to disturb you, then just smash the cloves, pull off the skins, and dump them straight in without mincing. That way, you can easily pull them out at the end, once they’ve given their flavoring all.

But me?

I mince. Or sometimes use a garlic press.

Now that everybody’s in the soon-to-be bath, I season with salt . . .

. . . and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Use less if you don’t want it too spicy. Use more to really clear out that congestion.

Here we must accommodate to our circumstances. I have not yet found any canned soup in Bratislava, let alone packaged chicken broth. All soups seem to come in powdered form instead. But whatever. I doubt I’d be willing to carry home tons of broth cans in addition to everything else over public transit anyway. Two cubes here makes one liter of chicken broth, which is about four cups. I add them directly to the pot and turn the heat up to medium high.

Next comes one cup (or 250 ml) of water . . . and a steam bath.

I now get aggressive and scrape up the fond from the bottom of the pan. That’s all the browning stuff that’s stuck to the bottom that will help make your bouillon taste like real stock.

See what a nice, rich color the water is now? Go ahead and add three more cups of water. Or 750 ml, if you’re cooking in Slovakia.

Now, when it’s all wet like that, I toss in the dried herbs. Dried herbs are fine for anything you plan on cooking for a while. Can you guess what these are?

One teaspoon of dried dill, 1 tablespoon of dried chives, and 2 bay leaves enter the pot.

Here is the diced chicken I saved from the previous night’s stir fry. It’s disturbingly similar in color to my hand. I only had one spare breast pieces, so I cut it extra small to stretch it. You could always add more chicken if you’re not cheap like me.

The chicken will start to turn white as soon as it hits the hot tub. Let it soak in there for about five minutes before you add the macaroni. It may need more time if you used bigger pieces.

Ever since I arrived here, Tesco’s been getting on a Whole Foods kick. Organic beef and dry goods started showing up, and they promote the heck out of some reusable shopping bag that we’ve never seen outside of the pictures. Now, they’ve started carrying whole-wheat pasta. We like the taste, but if you don’t, well, I’ll never know that you used a less virtuous noodle.

Add about 1/4-1/3 a pound (or 125 grams here) of fusilli or whatever curly pasta you picked up.

I decided here that one liter of broth wasn’t going to cut it for cooking all that pasta. I added two cups (or 500 ml, whatever) more water for the fusilli to drink up. You could use broth instead.

Let the pot boil gently for as long as it takes for the macaroni to turn tender. Then . . .

. . . you’ll have this lovely pot of soup here. Mmm!

M’m, m’m, good, you might say.

Chicken with Curly Pasta Soup
Source: Colleen’s Cookbook
Yield: 7 to 8 one-cup servings

• Nonstick spray
• 4 medium-sized carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 stalks celery, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• A few shakes of salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper (use less for less spice)
• 4 cups chicken bouillon, prepared
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon dried dill
• 1 tablespoon dried chives
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chicken breast, cut into a small dice
• 125 grams fusilli (or other macaroni)

Put a large soup pot or Dutch oven over very low heat. Add the vegetables to the pot as you chop them, stirring with each addition.

Once all the veggies are in the tub, season them with some salt and the 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Give the mix a good stir to distribute the seasonings, then turn up the heat to medium high. Add one cup of the bouillon and scrape the bottom of the pan firmly to bring up all the browned bits (this provides both depth of flavor and a cleaner pan for your significant other to wash!).

Add the rest of the bouillon and the water. To this, stir in the dill, chives, and bay leaves. Let the soup come up to a simmer, then add the chicken pieces. Allow the chicken to poach for about 5 minutes. Turn down the heat if the soup starts to boil rapidly.

Next, stir in the fusilli. Cook this at a gentle boil for as long as the package instructions say, until the pasta is tender. Fish out the bay leaves and serve.

Notes:
You can shift around the proportions as you see fit. This produces a very chunky soup. If you prefer a thinner soup, add another pint of chicken broth.

Download Chicken with Curly Pasta Soup into MacGourmet.

The Year in Food Trends

Epi Log: The Best Food Trends of 2007:

Carbohydrate Comeback: Bread is bouncing back from the “no carb” diet movement as people eat and make it more than they have in over a decade. Pasta is also on the rise again and grains like quinoa and Israeli couscous are ready for their close-up.

Said trend is just one on Epi-Log’s year-end list. I find year-end reflection lists more palatable than predictions made in any sense other than a humorous one. Epicurious’ list of the cream of the crop is spot on as far as I’m concerned. Though it’s not long, it picks up on trends that perhaps were not as headlining as the New Oxford American Dictionary word of the year, “locavore” (as opposed to Merriam-Webster’s chosen-by-online-survey word of the year, “w00t” — hmm, imagine that), but were some worthwhile improvements in our food culture.

I have to point out though that Israeli couscous (any couscous) is not a grain in the sense that quinoa is. It’s an itty-bitty pasta. But then, even quinoa is not exactly a grain, either.

You can also check out the previous list of 2007′s worst food trends — Country Breakfast Burritos, anyone?

To Breakfast or Not to Breakfast?

The Risks and Rewards of Skipping Meals – Well – Tara Parker-Pope – Health – New York Times Blog

The researchers found that skipping meals during the day and eating one large meal in the evening resulted in potentially risky metabolic changes. The meal skippers had elevated fasting glucose levels and a delayed insulin response — conditions that, if they persisted long term, could lead to diabetes.

With diet season coming up, it’s time to be reminded not to skip meals if we intend to lose weight. The Well blog linked here addresses the issue from the scientific perspective, with the noted caveat that study conclusions have been mixed on the issue.

Check out the site to read more about a second study that found some benefit in skipping meals (in a sense).

I don’t think skipping meals has ever worked for me. I just end up ravenous by the end of the day, more than making up the missed calories. In fact, I often need to include small snacks midafternoon to keep the hungry beast in check so that I can make sensible dinner decisions (such as cooking for myself rather than swinging by McDonald’s).

Epicurious Makes its Resolution

The Smart Way to Lose Weight: The Best Low-Calorie Recipes, Diet Tips, & Treats at Epicurious.com: “Here are a dozen ways to cut calories without completely sacrificing the joy of eating real food.”

The recipes linked to in the attached article are your typical high-class Gourmet and Bon Appétit recipes, so if you want to diet like a king, this is the site for you. The staff also does a taste test of various packaged snacks, and as you might expect there’s a definite lean toward the products you’d find in a health- or nature-oriented grocery store.

An exception is the granola/cereal bar category, which is taken by Special K bars. Just goes to show what a dearth of strong competitors there is in that field, in my opinion. Yuck.

Slate’s Canned Soup Taste-Off

The article’s a bit old, but the soups are still out there. If you need evidence for why homemade soup is immensely superior to canned, go no further.

Testing canned soup

Mida’s Garlic Pickle

I have no idea if this product is available in the United States. I have never explored the supermarket’s tiny Indian section much at home, except to look for cheap jasmine rice and bagged peppercorns at Wegmans. But for once, I sincerely hope that something I discovered here will be there when I return home.

At Tesco here in Bratislava, there’s a sizable section of Indian foods, larger than that devoted to all of the rest of Asia put together. I don’t know that the Slovaks particularly like the cuisine of the subcontinent, but I do know that the British are fans. Tesco, as you might know, is based in Britain.

Browsing the shelves opposite where they now keep the ketchup and mustard one day, both Scott and I noticed this jar among the various chutneys and curry sauces.

Both being fans of garlic, we decided to give it a shot, despite its steep cost of about 115 korunas (that’s almost $5!).

At first, we didn’t quite know what to do with it. It was all right in sandwiches and on baked potatoes, but it wasn’t spectacular. We had to wonder if we’d made the right choice in buying it.

But then! I was mixing up some sort of salad or defrosted-vegetable side dish one day, and I decided to flavor it with the garlic pickle. Success!

This stuff totally transforms a bowl of plain veggies, adding zing in a way butter never could. The saucy part adds warm but not hot spice and some acidity, and the garlic slivers give you a sweet-hot garlic bite without the knockout punch of raw garlic.

I add a tablespoon or two of the pickle to almost any frozen veggie I want to quickly jazz up (such as green beans or broccoli). It’s also great made into a salad dressing. Chunk up cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions (and maybe toss in a rinsed can of kidney beans), add a little salt, a splash of vinegar, and a few spoonfuls of garlic pickle, and you have the most delicious quick side dish this side of French fries.

Patak’s might make something similar among all its jarred Indian goodies. I use the nutritional stats on something called “Patak’s Garlic Relish” when counting calories for a dish. I’m hoping that it’s simply another name for this wonderful condiment that has been totally worth the $5.