Update on Whole Foods Plant-Based shopping in the Starling Avenue Triangle

This is just a very practical list with some recent items from local stores that are worthwhile:

Chang-Li Supermarket:

Braggs Liquid Aminos on the shelf in aisle 3 at Chang-Li

 

• 4lb Himalayas Blessing Brown Basmati Rice for $8.99. That is a good value.
• Braggs Liquid Aminos. Right now, Chang-Li carries Braggs Liquid Aminos again, albeit only in the 16 Oz bottle for now. I have asked them to stock the 32 Oz bottle again also. I have also asked them for the nutritional yeast.
• Their selection of whole wheat pasta is growing and recently, they also have whole wheat lasagna.
• The fruit and vegetable selection remains great.
• They have some Hodgson Mill Milled Flaxseed, which is a great option if you're in a hurry. Ideally you should mill your flax seed in a Magic Bullet or some such, as flaxseed does lose some nutritional value when it's milled, but sometimes convenience wins out...
• They have quite a selection of Dunya Harvest Organic grains and pulses - including rice, quinoa, lentils, peas, and various beans. And there's another brand, Heartland, which provides some good staples as well.
• Lately they also have raspberries occasionally, which is a great addition to your morning steel cut oats. Sometimes they have steelcut oats from Dunya Harvest.

On of these days, I will do a more extensive survey.

KeyFood on Unionport:

There is a lot to like in this KeyFood, including:

• Steel cut oats: they sometimes carry Bob's Red Mill, and sometimes Quaker Oats. Stock up for it is not always in stock and steelcut oats are sooo much better!
• A great selection of balsamic vinegars, and some good deals!
• A regular supply of great products from Bob's Red Mill, grains and legumes. This section is always worth a stop.
• A great selection of whole grain pasta.
• Often a good selection of berries in the produce section.

Pioneer on Castle Hill:

Supplies at this store can be erratic. One day they have a great selection of whole wheat pasta, and then they are sold out for quite a while before they get restocked. It is a bit of hit or miss.

• Produce dept. is usually worth checking out.
• A small section of organics is worthwhile.
• Whole wheat pasta. In spite of the irregularities noted above, they still have a decent selection most of the time.

  That's it for now. I will periodically do an update on the changing selection. For many of the staples, the Good 'n Natural healthfood store on 2173 White Plains Road by Pelham Parkway is a good option, and there is a great green market across Pelham Parkway also, as well as a well supplied C-Town at 640 Pelham Parkway, and the green market is across Pelham Parkway on Boston Road. Be sure to hit all three when you have to go that far.

Dunya Harvest Steel-cut Oats at Chang-Li: Breakfast of champions

Dunya Harvest is a beautiful collection of organic staples that is avalaible at Chang-Li Supermarket. One of my favorites is their Steel-cut Organic Oats.

Dunya Harvest, Steel-cut Organic Oats

The best way to prepare them is always with your automatic rice cooker, in my case a Zojirushi NP-GBC05. There's nothing like just setting the timer at night for 6:30 and waking up to the smell of the oatmeal cooking.

Shredded Granny Smith, raisins, craisins, and some fresh ground Ceylon cinnamon

Once it's done, all I do is shred a Granny Smith apple with my trusty Börner V-Slicer mandolin, and add in some raisins, some craisins, and optionally other dried fruit (apricots work fine too), and some ground cinnamon. I add these dried fruits during the "keep warm" cycle and just wait a few minutes, and voilà you're ready to go. You can top the whole thing with some fresh fruit, and you have a breakfast you can't beat.

Adding the dried fruit in the "keep warm" cycle

As to the cinnamon, the usual "supermarket" variety, is actually chinese cinnamon (Cassia Cinnamon), which has a more full-bodied flavor. For the gourmets out there, the alternatives are Ceylon (Sri-Lanka) cinnamon, which is very aromatic and milder and Saigon cinnamon, which is a little spicier. Much has been made of the fact that Chinese cinnamon contains more coumarin, but it would appear that the amount is so small that the concern is not warranted, as this excellent article points out.

Topped off with persimmon