Superfoods

Superfood Kale Salad Recipe

August 8, 2023 by The Natural Grocery Company

Keeping Kale Relevant

The darling of superfoods for decades after languishing as a salad bar decoration, kale is a somewhat divisive vegetable. People typically love it, or they hate it. One reason for the naysayers is the texture. Kale is fibrous and can be difficult to munch compared to other greens like romaine lettuce or spinach. One way to overcome this and enjoy tender kale salads? Massage!

That’s right, getting your hands in there and rubbing or kneading the greens—after you’ve removed the large stems, of course!—breaks down some of the tough fibers. Add a bit of acid and salt, and you’re well on your way to a bowl of tender, well-seasoned greens. With the addition of creamy avocado, it’s like a perfect bowl of guacamole that helps make sure you’re getting a full serving of veggies.

Think of this recipe as the perfect canvas. You can enjoy the subtle nuttiness of sunflower seeds and hemp hearts. Add it to wraps or sandwiches that could use a boost. Top with your favorite protein for a more substantial meal. Grilled tofu will keep things plant-based. You can also add some grilled shrimp, cotija cheese, diced ripe mango, and a bit of your favorite salsa for a shrimp taco salad. The canvas can take anything you throw at it, so don’t sleep on this superfood kale salad!

Superfood Kale Salad

Serves 2-4

Total time: 15 Minutes

Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Vegan

1 bunch green kale

1 large ripe avocado, peeled and pit removed

2 large garlic cloves, minced

⅓ cup nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup roasted sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons hemp hearts

Remove stems from kale and chop leaves into bite size pieces. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl place avocado, garlic, olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt. Fork through the mixture to mash avocado and to blend ingredients.
Add kale and mix thoroughly with both hands, massaging until kale is fully coated. Adjust seasoning to taste.
To serve, garnish with sunflower seeds and hemp hearts.

Organic Green Kale

March 21, 2022 by The Natural Grocery Company

Organic Green Kale

Season: Grown in California!

Flavor: Kale has a strong and earthy taste. The leaves are dry, tough, crunchy, and strong tasting. It is a hearty leafy green, yet it is not spicy like arugula. Young kale has softer, thinner leaves with a mild taste.

Storage: For a bunch of whole leaves, it’s all about avoiding excess moisture. Wrap the bunch of kale in a layer of paper towels, and store in an airtight bag in the refrigerator crisper drawer. The kale should be in great shape for a week.

How to use: Kale is delicious steamed, stir-fried, roasted, raw and “massaged,” and is tasty in smoothies, salads, stir fried, wilted into soup, mashed with potatoes, kale pesto; the list of uses for this vegetable go on and on.

Nutrition: Anti-inflammatories in the form of Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin K; antioxidants in the form of carotenoids, Vitamins C and E, as well as dozens of flavonoids (found in the pigments); cancer-fighting glucosinolates, just to name a few. For just 36 calories, one cup of kale contains three grams of fiber, 93 mg of calcium, 2.5 grams of protein.

Organic Rio Red and Star Ruby Grapefruit

January 29, 2022 by The Natural Grocery Company

Season: This month our Red Rio and Star Ruby Grapefruit are grown in California. This is peak season! Grapefruit tend to grow in clusters, so much so that they can resemble grapes on a vine. (Fun fact! This is how grapefruit got their name.)

Flavor: Sweet, mildly tart, and super juicy they are mostly seedless with deep red flesh.

Storage: Store it at room temperature if you plan to eat the fruit soon, because citrus fruits are always juicier when slightly warm. If planning to store grapefruit for a longer period, make sure the skin is dry before placing the fruit in a mesh bag and store in your fridge crisper.

How to use: Many people like to eat grapefruit fresh and on its own. The juice is great but the sugar can add up quickly when you don’t have the fiber to balance it out. Grapefruit is delicious in salads, as a salsa for fish or added to your favorite grain bowl.

Nutrition: There’s a reason grapefruit is sometimes referred to as a superfood. In addition to its other health benefits, a serving of grapefruit is packed with vitamins and minerals. These include Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Calcium and Iron.

Cult Crackers – Our Newest, Local Food Crush

August 10, 2017 by WineAndBeer

Small batch, handmade, organic crackers made in Berkeley?

Yes please!

That’s exactly what Cory (long time employee of Berkeley Natural Grocery) said to Birgitta when she told him about her made-from-scratch crackers crafted from a Swedish friend’s recipe.

Birgitta is a long time (30 + years) shopper at our Berkeley store. For years, she bought the same superfood ingredients from our bulk bins. After chatting and recipe sharing with staff, she brought the team at Berkeley Natural (BNG) samples of her crackers. They were hooked. Birgitta and her partner Dianna credit Cory and the BNG team with inspiring them to start their small business.

The recipe originated with Birgitta’s friend in Sweden whose daughter is a very picky eater. When she finally discovered a winning combination that even her daughter appreciated, she shared it with Birgitta. While Birgitta and Dianna have altered the recipe a bit (most dramatically dropping the olive oil in favor of coconut oil), the Swedish roots are strong.

The flower on the label is a traditional Swedish decoration. Their label and logo designer lives on an island in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. The heritage (and inspiration) for these crackers points back to the majestic northern lands of the Baltic.

Cracker culture in Sweden is endless, with entire aisles dedicated to the craft. Everybody buys and bakes crackers. People commonly eat crackers with every meal whether paired with pickled herring, caviar, cheese, smoked meat, gravlax or soup.

The key to Birgitta’s leap into full time cracker production happened while selling Swedish ovenware. She was going to product shows and would bring her crackers along for snacks and meals. Everybody wanted the crackers more than the ovenware. With that nudge and the continued encouragement from Cory and the Berkeley Natural Team, Birgitta teamed up with Dianna (who has a culinary degree) to forge what is now Cult Crackers.

Together, they met the folks at Muffin Revolution and subleased kitchen space from them. That afforded them the chance (in a certified gluten-free kitchen) to produce more volume and become a registered business. When Muffin Revolution outgrew the space, they offered the lease to Cult Crackers. While it was a big jump, they accepted. And thank goodness they did!

These two ladies started their official Cult Cracker journey in June. Berkeley Natural Grocery was store number one, and now they are in ten stores throughout the Bay Area!

The crackers are delightful. At their kitchen, we snacked on them with Mitica Drunken Goat cheese and Crofters Jam. With a box to take home, I shared the crackers with my five year old son (and felt great about it!). He loved them with butter and salami.

We are so excited to carry their crackers at both stores so that you can try them sometime soon!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Burroughs Family Farms

March 7, 2017 by WineAndBeer

Burroughs Family Farms – Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

We recently started selling Burroughs Family Farms organic, non-GMO, cold-pressed extra-virgin organic olive oil [aka EVOO]. This exemplary family-owned farm, situated in the Sierra foothills below Yosemite, is one of our favorite regional producers. We already source quality pastured eggs, organic cheese, and almonds from their property. The Burroughs Family Olive Oil is a blend of Arbeqina, Arbosana and Gretchenina olives (originally from Spain). The oil has a pleasant fruitiness with hints of grassy undertones. It is very versatile and may be used in sauces, salad dressings, as a topping to bread and for low heat cooking.

Here is what Burroughs Family Farms says about their oil:

Our olives are first cold-pressed at temperatures that do not exceed 80 degrees F. This protects the polyphenols, antioxidants, and vitamins that give the oil its nutritional value and its aroma and flavor.

Why extra-virgin olive oil?

EVOO is known to contain stronger concentrations of phytonutrients (especially polyphenols) that have well-known anti-inflammatory properties

EVOO supports blood vessels not only by providing antioxidants like vitamin E and beta-carotene, but also also providing unique molecules like HT that actually work at a genetic level to help the cellular walls of the blood vessels remain strong.

Cholesterol lowering and blood pressure lowering benefits of monounsaturated oil (olive oil contains 75%)

High quality extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point of around 405ºF (191ºC), making it ideal for lower temperature cooking such as light sautés and non-cooked uses such as dressing salads and dipping bread. Such uses protect the nutritional value and beneficial qualities of the oil.

Why California Olive Oil?

As with wine, it has taken years for people to discover that some of the world’s finest olive oils are produced in California. Our family owned and operated farms rest on the rolling hills near Yosemite National Park, where the combination of the moderate Mediterranean climate with good soils and water grows some of the world’s finest quality olives.

Buying California olive oils vs. imports supports our farm economy, and California olive oils have a lower carbon-footprint because their shipping distance is much shorter than that of imports.

Conservation on our farms

Ours is not the easiest way to grow olives, but we think it’s best for our land and for our family who lives and works here. From organic production to state-of-the-art irrigation systems, we do whatever we can to protect air, soil, and water from herbicides, pesticides, petrochemical nitrogen fertilizers, and genetically-modified organisms. All that, plus our hedgerows of native plants support the health of native species and bees who have the most important job – the pollination of the olive flowers.

We do it for the future of our farms. For you, it’s deliciousness and more.

Burroughs Family Olive Oil is certified annually by the California Olive Oil Council (COOC). Year after year it’s labeled “extra-virgin” by the council. To get the seal the oil is lab tested and undergoes a critical analysis by an expert panel. The trained sensory panel (think of these people as the sommeliers of olive oil) ensure that the oil is free of defects in flavor or odor. In the U.S., many oils are labeled “extra-virgin” but do not undergo any such testing.

Slow Cooking – Groats

January 16, 2017 by WineAndBeer

Whole Groats

While shopping in our El Cerrito store bulk section, I was tempted to try the organic oat groats instead of the rolled oats. I was both inspired by the current sale price ($1.19/lb) and want the healthiest option for our five year old son. Our bulk buyer, David gave me another reason. He said, “why not eat things as close to the way mother-nature produced them as possible.” I can’t argue with that logic so I bought a bulk bag of groats.

Here’s what I did to process the groats:

1 cup of groats in 3 cups of water

Before bed, I put one cup of groats in a heavy bottom stainless steel pot along with three cups of water.

Simmering groats

In the morning, I turned the burner on medium heat and started cooking in the same pot where I soaked the grains.

Every 10 to 15 minutes, I checked the pot and stirred. 30 minutes into cooking, the groats were sticking to the bottom of the pot so I added more water (1 cup). I also added ¼ cup of raisins, a pinch of salt and a dash of cinnamon. 20 minutes later I added another 1/4 cup of water because the water was nearly absorbed. The groats cooked for a total of 1.5 hours. I added additional water (1/4 cup) another three times during the cooking process.

If you cook groats at home, add water as you see fit. It takes a lot to overcook groats but very little to burn them when there is not enough water in the pot. In other words, keep ’em hydrated.

Toppings: pecans, maple syrup and whole milk

Hearty Breakfast

Leftovers – tomorrow’s breakfast!

The groat cooking process took longer and required more attention than the rolled oats. However, the nutritional benefits make the extra time worth it (when time allows!). For hurried mornings, consider cooking a larger batch. Soak the groats before heading off for your day, cook them in the evening and re-heat them with a little extra water and/or milk in the morning. Or, make enough for leftovers every time you prepare groats.

Why Eat Oat Groats? Here’s what one of our wholesalers (Hummingbird Wholesale) writes about this wonder grain:

Organic Oat Groats are whole oats with only the outer husk removed.

In general, oats have more protein and healthy fats, and less carbohydrates than most other whole grains. This grain is high in beta-glucans, which work to stimulate the immune system. They contain more soluble fiber than any other grain, and oats are also beneficial for their anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-itching qualities.

Sounds like a great food if you ask me! Here’s to your morning meal!

Yams or Sweet Potatoes?

November 16, 2016 by The Natural Grocery Company

Purple Yam

Orange Sweet Potato

Yams or Sweet Potatoes?
We all love to make yams for Thanksgiving, but did you know that you are actually eating sweet potatoes? In the United States we refer to an orange fleshed sweet potato as a yam, but they are really two completely different species. The true yam does not grow in the northern hemisphere. They are only grown in the Caribbean, Africa and parts of Asia. The Yam can grown up to 150lbs and 4.5′ in length. Their flesh ranges in color from white to yellow to pink and they have a very thick, scaly, alligator like skin.

Their flesh is also very starchy and dry. Yams are more closely related to lilies and grasses than they are to sweet potatoes, which are in the morning glory family.

Sweet potatoes are native to tropical regions of South America. Peruvian sweet potato remnants dating as far back as 8000 BC have been found. You can eat them raw, baked, boiled, steamed, roasted, broiled, grilled, fried and just about any other way you can think of!
At The Natural Grocery Company, we have a variety of different sweet potatoes to
choose from year round. The orange flesh varieties are known as “moist fleshed” and the white
fleshed varieties are known as “dry fleshed.” Here are the types we carry at both our stores:
Garnet-An orange fleshed variety that is the most popular. This is the traditional “yam” we eat at
Thanksgiving. With a dark red skin and bright pumpkin colored flesh, this sweet potato is great
prepared almost any way. It is very sweet and has a nice creamy, velvety texture when cooked.
Jewel and Beauregard-Both types have an orange flesh. These varieties have tan skin and tend
to be a little sweeter than the Garnet. I like to use the Beauregard in my sweet potato pie recipe.
It is very moist when cooked and has a texture that is not as velvety as the Garnet. Great for
making sweet potato fries or chips!
Hannah– This variety has a light tan, almost white skin with white flesh. The white flesh is
crumbly and has the texture of a russet potato when cooked. This year, I will be making a
Hannah sweet potato pie with cardamom and vanilla.
Japanese– Also a white fleshed variety, this sweet potato has a very dark purple skin. Because of
its drier texture, I like to slice these, drizzle with olive oil, cinnamon and cayenne and bake at
350 degrees until they soften and turn a golden brown color. They are also nice in soups.
Purple Stokes/ Okinawa sweet potato- This super food variety is my favorite! With a bluish
purple skin and deep royal purple flesh, this sweet potato has a texture very similar to the Garnet
but has an extra sweet earthiness to the taste. Originally from the Americas, this variety was
introduced to Japan in the 14th century and has become a staple on the Island of Okinawa where
it is eaten almost every day. This is believed to be the reason why Okinawa has the largest
percentage of people living over the age of 100 (more than any other country). This variety has
150% more antioxidants than blueberries and is wonderful prepared almost any way. Try using
these in a pie (beautiful) or mashed instead of regular potatoes. Add some extra antioxidants to
your Thanksgiving table!
By Casey Goode, Produce Manger at ECNG

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