Open Forum: What’s your Favorite New Food Discovery of 2011?
Dec 27, 2011
I hope you have been having a wonderful holiday season! Â Before we turn the page on 2011, I thought it might be fun to ask a quick question.
Last year, my new favorite food was nutritional yeast. Although it’s easily dismissed as “hippie health food,” this stuff is definitely worthy of consideration, if only for its great taste. Â I love the versatile, cheesy-nutty flavor (especially sprinkled on popcorn!), and it adds a savory Umami flavor to soups and other dishes. Oh yeah, and there are all those B vitamins it delivers (Vegans: It’s a good idea to choose a brand that is fortified with B-12). Â So when I finally tried it last year, it quickly became my favorite new food.
This year, my discovery is hulled hemp seeds. Like nutritional yeast, they’re both healthy and delicious (swoon!). Hemp seeds are a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids, a “complete” protein source, and very high in several other vitamins and minerals.  I’ve been sprinkling them on my morning oatmeal, on top of a bowl of greek yogurt, or just blending them into a smoothie.  I think they taste like sunflower seeds — but with less of a crunch. Yum!
What’s your new favorite food discovery of 2011? Â Let us know in the comments!
(RSS and email readers, click through to share your discovery).
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Photo by Evelyn Parham.
Acorn Squash for dessert and breads….yummy
Fermenting everything, for sure: kimchi, kombucha, sour beets, kefir, ginger beer, sourdough, and homemade fruit vinegars!
I would have to say coconut wraps which I discovered at the WAPF conference in November. THey are amazing. I can’t eat grains/gluten right now….these totally make for an exceptional replacement. http://improveat.com/whatoffer.php I use them often for tacos and things like that!
garlic 🙂
Kale Chips….kale, olive oil, sea salt and gralic. Bake! Easy! Yum!
This year I learned to use lots of old favorites in new ways. One of the more delicious discoveries was how to substitute maple syrup for refined sugar in all my baking.
This is a hard one! All I can think of is cardamom. Not a food, per se, but it has enlivened so many of my ho-hum daily dishes, like oatmeal.
Ditto for coconut oil. I eat it by the spoonful sometimes… 😉
I totally agree! Cardomom is my new discovery as well. I’ve been making a really warming tea with cardamom, peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon that I’m practically addicted to. And you’re right, it does make oatmeal taste better! And a bonus that I recently discovered– if you accidentally leave a bag of it in your purse, your purse smells wonderful for a really long time 🙂
…oops, I spelled cardamom wrong
Oh my gosh, mine is also hulled hemp seeds. Love, love, love them! And, they do amazing things for your skin and nails…
A second thing is pumpkin seed protein powder. It’s really pretty good!
For me it was quinoa. And now that I know how to cook it right it is even better!
Probably a whole less exotic, but I discovered endamame and figs. Yum.