Filtering by Tag: Ingredients,Plant Based

Beastie Burger: CT Entrepreneur Creates Delicious Plant Based Burgers

Ingredients Features Vegan Vegetarian Plant Based Ingredients Burgers Healthy Eats Health & Wellness

April Guilbault February 07, 2023

This is the story of a plant-based burger patty that began with a wedding invitation.

Our heroine, Lisa, receives her son’s wedding invitation in the mail one day. Joy! But, oh, on that day, she is feeling that she doesn’t want to be in the spotlight, walking down that aisle as the Mother-of-the-Groom, with everyone staring at her. So, to help counter her depression and anxiety, she soon finds a local fitness trainer. In walks trainer Joseph and Lisa’s life begins to change. Even more changes are to come down the road, including, oddly, a little incident with a meat grinder on Rt.8 on dark and stormy night.

As Lisa Nicholas begins her transformation and changes the way she thinks about nutrition and exercise, Joseph suggests upping her daily intake of protein to build those lean muscles. Problem is, Lisa had tried the vegan lifestyle years before and was hitting a wall with food being interesting and, also, getting enough protein.

Vergelegen, South Africa’s 2nd Oldest Winery Comes To CT

Features Ingredients Wine Ingredients Wine Chat

James Gribbon November 10, 2022

Vergelegen, South Africa’s second oldest winery, was introduced in the U.S. for the first time this year. We had an opportunity to try these outstanding wines, and speak with the group responsible for bringing Vergelegen to America.

Vergelegen's existence in the U.S. is one of the better success stories we’ve heard from the last two years, but its history dates back to the year 1700, when the Dutch East India co-founded the vineyard in order to have drinkable liquid on Cape Horn when traveling back and forth from India, Indonesia, and all points East.

Vergelegen (closest pronunciation we can manage is VAHK-heh-lehn) means "situated far away," and the original estate totaled an absolutely whopping 74,000 acres. A bit smaller now, the current production is still 100% estate wine, and their V and GVB wines are still produced on specific blocks of the old vineyard, located around the corner from Stellenbosch. Cold currents of air coming from Antarctica at night, with hot weather from Indian Ocean in the day, plus variable soils at the base of the Helderberg Mountains have proven perfect for wine growing.

Saugatuck Provisions Opens From A Local CT Chef (Matt Storch), A Butcher & A Fisherman (Copps Island Oysters)

Ingredients Features Openings Westport Grocery Store Ingredients Seafood Butcher Specialty Market Homepage

Stephanie Webster October 26, 2022

What happens when a chef, a butcher and a fisherman walk into a bar? Stay tuned and I’ll tell you…

If you’ve noticed some activity behind the brown paper covering the windows of what was once Westport’s Saugatuck Craft Butchery, it’s not just wishful thinking. Big things are happening behind that masked facade …big things that involve a culinary power team including Chef Matt Storch and Susan McConnell (Match Burger Lobster, Match) in partnership with Jimmy Bloom of Copps Island Oysters, and butcher, Paul Nessal, whom you will recognize if you spent any time at the nose to tail butchery, Saugatuck Craft, back in the day. After 5 years of discussion, this group is finally getting ready to open the doors to Saugatuck Provisions, a new concept offering customers a curated selection of the very best ingredients from the land, sea and grocery, enabling guests to create beautiful restaurant quality meals at home.

Saugatuck Provisions is conveniently located next to Match Burger Lobster in Westport, and will be ready for customers in early November, with Thanksgiving pre-ordering already live here.

Local Vegan Chef, Christian Tracey, Launches Plant-Based Video Recipe Series

Features Recipe Video Recipe Vegan Plant Based

CTbites Team April 26, 2022

Christian (Chrissy) Tracey is a local Vegan Content Contributor, Video Host at Bon Appétit Magazine, and Head Chef at Chrissy’s. She lives in New Fairfield CT.

As a Vegan chef, Chef Christian Tracey knows a thing or two about the beauty of plants. She has recently launched a video series called “Plant Curious”, a plant-based series showcasing the food and cultures she loves. Tracey will be exploring cooking, baking, foraging, and a bit of her Jamaican culture. She strives to inspire her viewers to get excited about adding plants to their lifestyle---whether that be through diet and meal planning, or simply getting outside.

In this video, she features Ackee, the national fruit of Jamaica. The dish, Ackee & Saltfish, is an ode to her childhood and her Jamaican heritage. It's a traditional meal consumed on a regular basis in many Jamaican households, and is savory and vegetable forward.

Plantidote Foods: Wholesome & Tasty Vegan Plant-Based Patties, Made in CT

Features Ingredients Vegan Vegetarian Plant Based Healthy Eats Burgers Local Artisan

Stephanie Webster January 25, 2022

As keepers of Connecticut culinary intel, we field a lot of reader queries. One question commonly asked is, “where can I get really good quality, great tasting vegan food” that also answers the question, “why can’t I understand half the ingredients in the so-called “healthy” convenience store foods? We recently came across Plantidote Foods vegan, ready made plant-based patties, and they check all the boxes. They taste great, have just 10 nutrient packed ingredients, all of which you can see, pronounce and understand, and they are made right here in Norwalk CT.

Green & Tonic: Chef Anthony Rinaldi Takes the Helm at this Plant Based Eatery

Restaurant Vegan Vegetarian Plant Based Chef Openings Healthy Eats

April Guilbault November 30, 2021

I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all been here at some point: you go out to eat, thoroughly enjoy everything that passes your lips, and maybe (probably) eat a little too much because it’s so dang tasty and before you know it, you’re reaching for the Tums and the fat-pants, not necessarily in that order.

Well, I went out to eat the other night, thoroughly enjoyed everything that passed my lips, and did in fact, eat a bit too much but you know what? I left this establishment feeling….good, great, even healthy. “How can this be?” you ask. Three little words: Green and Tonic.

The Westport Farmers' Market Is Back for the 2021 Summer Season with 50+ Vendors

Features Ingredients Farmers Market Westport Healthy Eats Farm To Table Farm Fresh Ingredients Farm Stand Local Artisan Bread Bakery Food Truck

CTbites Team May 25, 2021

The need to eat strikes in many different forms. Craving something healthy? At The Westport Farmers’ Market, you can grab some freshly grown produce to satisfy that yearning. Want something refreshing? Stop by the handmade popsicle stand to cool down. How about something sweet? Head to the various artisan bakers selling freshly baked pastries and bread.

After a brief intermission from the end of their winter season back in March, the Westport Farmers Market has reopened to serve the community fresh produce, baked goods and everything in between. Open Thursdays from 10-2 on Imperial Avenue in Westport, the market is something you will not want to miss.

With over 50 vendors determined to provide market-goers with healthy and fresh products, Westport residents can look forward to grabbing organic, local ingredients to prepare a healthy meal, or even a pre-made breakfast or lunch… after visiting all the other vendors…of course.

Visit the Westport Farmers Market to enjoy goods from any of their over 50 vendors or check out a few of our favorites below!

Wise Guys Marinara Sauce: Locally Made and Distinctively Delicious

Features Ingredients Local Artisan Ingredients Tomato Sauce Specialty Products

Stephanie Webster January 22, 2021

Ah, red sauce…most Italian families have their own recipe, and they generally keep that recipe close to their hearts, fiercely guarded. It’s part of the ancestral family lineage, and while there are shared characteristics based on region, each recipe is unique.

We first met the folks from Wise Guys Sauce close to 7 years ago during their stint at The Sono Marketplace. They debuted the Wise Guys Sauce product line for use in their retail pizza shop, called, not surprisingly, Wise Guys Pizza. Sadly the Sono Marketplace/food court was slightly ahead if its time, and they closed the complex, but Co-Owner, Chris Polidoro, decided to keep the sauce alive. Guests were such fans of the tomato sauce, they made the decision to keep on making it. They grabbed some mason jars, slapped a label on, and started selling…and boy did they. Manufactured out of New Haven, Wise Guys Sauce can now be found in local grocery shops both large (Shop Rite) and small (see list below) as well as specialty food stores throughout the state of CT. They even made it onto the TODAY Show with Kathy Lee.

P.S. CTbites readers get $10 OFF with Code: ctbites through January 30th.

J’s Homemade Elderberry Syrup: Boost Your Immune System with this Locally Made Product

Features Ingredients Ingredients Gourmet Ingredients Kid Friendly Specialty Market Local Artisan Shop Local Vendor Highlight

Amy Kundrat August 25, 2020

Julie Messina had a problem to solve. What could she do to proactively combat the cold and flu season when it inevitably hit her own home? As a Kindergarten teacher and a new mom, she knew she would be a vector for viruses for her family and wanted to get ahead of the inevitable sniffles, or worse, influenza. When she discussed her concerns with her pediatrician, she learned about elderberry syrup, which some studies have shown can shorten the severity and duration of flu in adults. Drawn to its properties as a natural food, she wanted to give it a try but she hit her first roadblock when trying store brands. She didn’t like the taste or price of the elderberry syrups readily available, so she decided to try making her own. Although Julie wouldn’t officially sell her first bottle of elderberry syrup for several months, J’s Homemade was born on that fateful day at the pediatrician’s office. Like many entrepreneurs solving a problem, what followed wasn’t a straight path, but a lot of trial and error, perseverance and support from her wife Alicia and her (now) two children.

Each bottle of J’s Homemade elderberry syrup reflects its natural products and represents her own ongoing research and development.

Tips to Maximize Your CSA From Mike's Organic Delivery

Features Ingredients CSA Local Farm Ingredients How To Shop Local

Mike Geller June 11, 2020

Having connected farmers to consumers for 10 years in Fairfield & Westchester Counties, Mike's Organic owner Mike Geller knows a thing or two about CSAs. And if there was ever a time to give a CSA a chance, it's now! First and foremost, our farmers need us. As many farms rely significantly on business from restaurants and other sources, a great way to support our farms right now is through signing up for a CSA.

This crisis has highlighted the importance of small, local farms. If planes stop flying or processing plants close, it is they that will feed us...let us never forget that. Second, it is a way to guarantee that fresh, healthy, local food will be on your table for a period of several months. There is so much uncertainty in the world and this is one way to regain some control over your food. Also, so many of us are home cooking and a CSA allows you to be creative and introduce new things to your family!

If you take care of your produce, it will take care of you. It's so fresh when you get it, and if you just give it a little love it will give a whole lot back.

Guide To CSA's in CT: Support Your Local Farmer, Sign Up Now!

Features CT Farms Farm Fresh Farm to Table CSA Ingredients Best of CT

Stephanie Webster April 25, 2020

Need a CSA Share? Here's Connecticut Food and Farm Magazine's Field Guide to Connecticut Community Supported Agriculture: https://bit.ly/2VWuS7G

These farms have CSA shares still available (organized by county), click through for additional details on each. Sales are very brisk this year, please act quickly!

Ben To Table: Food Subscription Launches To Promote Small-Batch Producers of Gourmet Pantry Items

Features Ingredients Delivery Service Home Delivery Ingredients Gourmet Ingredients

CTbites Team April 24, 2020

So, we all like to support our local vendors, especially at times like these, but occasionally you need something a little “extra” or specialized, that you may not find at your local shop. Enter food-lover, cook, and long-time advocate Ben Simon, a New Haven native who is bringing high-quality, small-producer pantry staples and non-perishables to front doors across the United States with his new subscription box company, Ben to Table.

Ben to Table is a New Haven-based monthly subscription box inspired by Simon’s years of working on environmental and human rights campaigns across the globe, with a focus on preserving and promoting sustainable agriculture.

10 + CT Restaurants & Wholesalers Now Selling Groceries To The Public

Features Grocery Store Specialty Market Ingredients Shopping

Emma Jane-Doody Stetson April 10, 2020

Trips to the grocery store are becoming increasingly difficult. In addition to the risks associated with heading out into the crowd, shelves are picked over and ingredients are low. In order to make premium foods more accessible, some Connecticut restaurants and food wholesalers are making their meats, produce, and other staples available to the public as groceries. We have compiled this guide to let you know which restaurants have grocery programs and which wholesalers are now offering their goods to the public.

Turning Sap Into Syrup At Ambler Farm's Tap-A-Tree Program

Ingredients Features Farm to Table Local Farm Ingredients kids activity Kid Friendly

Natalie Levitt February 24, 2020

It was a warm February morning and my son and I joined a group of families as we gathered at Ambler Farm in Wilton, CT to kick off the maple sugaring season. We were greeted by Program Director Kevin Meehan and received an introductory lesson on how to tap a maple tree. Most of us stood in awe as the sap started to drip out of the tree upon tapping it. Many cheered with excitement for what was about to begin was a fantastic winter farming adventure and a great lesson in farm-to-table. We then received our buckets from Assistant Program Manager Jennifer Grass and proceeded to carefully select our “Giving Trees” on the farm. We hung our buckets on the trees and captured photos to commemorate the day. (Our tree was number 42 and pretty far from the sugar shack! It was an adventure after all!) Then we waited. We waited a week. During that week, many of us wondered just how much sap we would find in our buckets when we returned to the farm.

Famed Plant Based Chef Matthew Kenney and Marcia Selden Partner Launch "Naked Fig Catering"

Features Entertaining Vegan Plant Based Catering Caterer

CTbites Team September 10, 2019

Huge news for CT catering! The famed LA plant based Chef, Matthew Kenney Cuisine, is partnering with CT Catering Company, Marcia Selden to create Naked Fig Catering, a new plant-based catering company, launching this month.

Naked Fig Catering will embody the proficiency and finesse offered by Marcia Selden Catering to serve the elevated, refined plant-based cuisine that MKC is known for. The collaboration provides an opportunity to expand culinary presence into the catering and events industry, where Naked Fig will curate unforgettable culinary experiences that redefine the current standards in this category market.

Local Boxing Trainer Creates Hot Lady Hot Sauce Brand

Ingredients Features Ingredients Hot Sauce Local Artisan

Andrew Dominick May 28, 2019

The hot sauce market is stacked with thousands of brands trying to win over your taste buds and into your pantry, but few have roots right here in Fairfield County. Cue Hot Lady Hot Sauce, created by Adam Colberg, a Connecticut resident who grew up in Westport.

For Colberg, hot sauce wasn’t always in his overall plan.

“Before I graduated from Staples High School, I always embarked on different projects, I always did things differently,” he said. “I wasn’t ready for college, but I wanted to do something adventurous, so I joined the Marines.” His time in the corps, where he was a jet mechanic, granted him the opportunity to travel the world, including a tour in Spain.

Hartford Flavor Company: Uniquely Delicious Botanical Liqueurs

Features Ingredients Liqueur Cocktails Ingredients Hartford Specialty Market

Kristin L. Wolfe April 17, 2019

It’s herbal, it’s floral, it’s natural, Oh MY. It’s botanical liqueur.

Walking into Hartford Flavor Company is like walking into a place where all’s right with the world: it’s owned and operated by a smart woman, everything is natural, and it is as beautiful as a field of flowers should be.

Or, it’s like a laboratory-meets day spa-meets fully-stocked bar. Take your pick.

Anyway, I think you are getting my point. It is downright lovely and essential and all you think while touring around and talking to owner Lelaneia Dubay is, where have you been all my life?

BD Provisions: Gourmet Bulk Food Shopping That’s Really "Out of the Box"

Features Ingredients Shopping Specialty Market Grocery Store Newtown Ingredients Coffee

Jessica Ryan April 16, 2019

Bulk shopping isn’t exactly a new concept – we’ve been filling the trunks of our cars and SUVs with oversized products from those mammoth box stores for years. But bulk shopping that’s zero waste is something we don’t often see. BD Provisions, in Newtown, takes this familiar concept and gives it a breath of fresh air with a new, environmentally friendly spin.

Less is more, especially here. Less waste means more product which means greater savings and more fun, but you really need to head over to experience it yourself.

At BD Provisions you’ll find 270 carefully curated products sold by the pound in massive sustainable containers. Products range from dehydrated and powdered superfoods. You won’t want to pass by the creative, flavored rice, quinoa and soup blends that will enhance any weeknight dinner. Of course there are plenty of healthy snack options from the most beautifully colored wasabi coated soybeans, beautiful and delicious dried, crunchy beets, spicy chick peas, a wide selection of nuts both raw and flavored. Gorgeous beans and pastas. Beautiful aromatic spices, a generous selection of the most beautiful tea blends.

Newtown's Maple Craft Works With Breweries & Distilleries To Make Award Winning Maple Syrup

Ingredients Features Ingredients Local Artisan Local Farm Dessert

Connecticut Magazine January 15, 2019

Connecticut Magazine features a great local vendor who skillfully combines maple syrup and local distilleries.

When people try Maple Craft Foods’ bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup for the first time and taste the all-natural sweetness of the Vermont syrup layered with subtle smoke and caramel flavors imparted by aging in bourbon barrels, their reactions are often visceral, Dave Ackert says.

Watching new fans “ooh” and “ah” their way through this tasting is the best part of the job for Ackert, who owns the Newtown-based company along with his wife Eve, father Paul, and friend Bill Begany, of Begany Design.

Bourbon barrel maple is the company’s flagship product, and though it does not contain alcohol, it is the offspring of the burgeoning craft beer and distilling industries in Connecticut.

Rise Brewing Co: Nitro Cold Brew Coffee Made in CT

Ingredients Features Ingredients Coffee Brewery

CTbites Team December 26, 2018

Years of drinking bland and commonplace cups of coffee began to take a toll on Connecticut natives and founders of RISE Brewing Co., Hudson Gaines-Ross, Grant Gyesky, Jarrett McGovern, and Justin Weinstein. In 2014, they decided to take matters in their own hands by hitting the drawing board in their New York City apartments. Bean after bean, one roast and cold-brewing method after another, they finally created a cold brew coffee, making them the founders of RISE Brewing Company. Traversing the concrete jungle with their product, they asked experienced mixologists if it was the real deal. One day, in a Brooklyn café, the espresso machine broke; RISE cold brew came to the rescue, and was a hit amongst the customers. The product became available for purchase in July of 2017.