What New Foods Have You Tried?: Like It? Hate It? Share Here!

[Bastet]

My son is pretty married to the idea that dinner should contain meat.

 

Most of mine do, if for no other reason than I hate most non-animal foods that are high in protein, e.g. most legumes other than edamame (but when soybeans grow up, forget it, as I hate tofu and tempeh).  I love leafy greens, nuts, and seeds, but to me those are lunches, side dishes for dinner, and snacks. 

Edited June 22, 2015 by Bastet

[ALenore]

I bought a couple of steaks and ground beef from a local vendor.   When I bought the ground beef I asked if it was grass fed or grain fed. He said they'd just recently purchased the farm and that the meat I bought was probably mostly grain fed, but that they were switching to grass fed.  I only had grass fed beef once, at a restaurant, and I didn't particularly like it, but it might just have been that particular steak I didn't like, or maybe it's a taste I have to get used to.   

 

There are a couple of vendors selling organic chickens, and I'm thinking of trying some, but the price difference there is much greater, chickens are still  pretty inexpensive at the grocery store and I don't know if I want to pay more than twice as much to get organic chicken.  

 

I'm not vegetarian, but I do have vegetarian meals at least twice a week, and my husband has no problem with it, even though he grew up in a family where he had meat for dinner every night.  I do have friends though who don't think dinner is dinner unless it has meat. 

[PRgal]

Most of mine do, if for no other reason than I hate most non-animal foods that are high in protein, e.g. most legumes other than edamame (but when soybeans grow up, forget it, as I hate tofu and tempeh).  I love leafy greens, nuts, and seeds, but to me those are side dishes and snacks. 

 

My dad feels this way too.  He thinks not eating meat = not a "real" meal.  He also thinks all meals should include some sort of grain which I'm not a big fan of.  I had lunch with them recently and brought over some fish and salads to share.  He asked me where the bread/rice/other grain was.  I said that I didn't get any and that there was corn and cabbage slaw.  He wasn't convinced.  :(

[Bastet]

I'm not a big fan of bread or rice, and eat pasta as a meal rather than a side dish, so a lot of my dinners are just meat and veggies.  But when serving dinner to guests, I always include a grain/starch side dish as well. 

[Athena]

I'm similar to Bastet. I'm a protein (plus veg/fruit) person. While I have grown up on rice and enjoy baking bread and other carbs, I actually crave less of it. It's protein that makes me full, alert, and energized. I tried being vegetarian once, but I find it very difficult because while I enjoy pulses and legumes on occasion, eating them constantly like that bored me. I was also really tired so I increased my intake of eggs, fish, and dairy to compensate. I was also a student at the time and had a limited budget on food. On the whole, I do eat vegetarian a lot, and I am currently looking for a grass-fed beef supplier in my area. I actually had some bad reactions to beef once and it's probably because of the hormones.

[harrie]

I don't know if this is at all useful, but here are a couple of search things to find local purveyors of whatever. 

http://www.eatwellguide.org/search/advanced/  

http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html

 

Eat Wild has always worked for me, but I live in a tiny state so everything's pretty close together. 

 

On the starch front, I was always a protein and veggie/fruit girl but when the hub and I started living together, "where's the starch" became a joke or a mantra, depending on how you feel about it.  To be fair, the hub has always cooked at least 50% of the time and faithfully included a starch in his meals  Plus he's Irish and Polish, so potatoes are like a religion for him.  But I have been known to step off the scale and mutter "Where's the starch, m---f---r?"  and at those times he may or may not fear for his life. 

[Lovecat]

harrie - gussied up ramen is a big favorite in my family.  You can walk into anyone of my brothers pantries and you'll find it (we're brand specific so it will be Maruchen).  A big treat is when it is made with homemade bone broth.  My brothers all love cracking an egg in it right at the end of cooking.  Some will stir it around and get little egg runners in the soup, others will just leave it whole and spoon in to it as they eat.  I'm not big on that, but it thrills them to no end.

I very rarely eat ramen without throwing some leftover chicken in.  I boil the noodles in reduced-sodium chicken broth and toss the nasty salty seasoning packet in favor of my own seasoning (usually a few shakes of whatever Mrs. Dash flavor catches my fancy that day), as well.  Now that I'm thinking of it, I *do* have some chicken in the fridge, and there's always ramen in the pantry...mmmmlunch :)

[DeLurker]

I very rarely eat ramen without throwing some leftover chicken in.  I boil the noodles in reduced-sodium chicken broth and toss the nasty salty seasoning packet in favor of my own seasoning (usually a few shakes of whatever Mrs. Dash flavor catches my fancy that day), as well.  Now that I'm thinking of it, I *do* have some chicken in the fridge, and there's always ramen in the pantry...mmmmlunch :)

I do have a fondness for that nasty salty seasoning packet...despite knowing it is exactly that!  I usually just use about 1/2 of it instead of the whole thing.

[Qoass]

Dumb question:  are packaged ramen noodles so high in calories because of the noodles or because of the flavor packet?

[Athena]

Dumb question:  are packaged ramen noodles so high in calories because of the noodles or because of the flavor packet?

 

Probably the flavour packet. While the noodles are salty, the flavour packets are full of additives, seasonings, etc. The sodium level is very high.

 

I made ramen yesterday. Actually, it was packaged rice noodles (ho-fan). I made it with my home made turkey stock, celery, and like one quarter of the seasoning packets. I also added some nutritional yeast and srircha.

[mansonlamps]

Probably the flavour packet. While the noodles are salty, the flavour packets are full of additives, seasonings, etc. The sodium level is very high.

Actually the original poster asked about calories not sodium, so I would have to go with the noodles. Can't imagine the flavoring packet having a whole lot of calories. Sodium, definitely.

[Athena]

Actually the original poster asked about calories not sodium, so I would have to go with the noodles. Can't imagine the flavoring packet having a whole lot of calories. Sodium, definitely.

 

Most Asian ramen noodles include an oil packet in addition to a dry seasoning packet which is high calories and high in sodium.

[mansonlamps]

Most Asian ramen noodles include an oil packet in addition to a dry seasoning packet which is high calories and high in sodium.

Lol not in the 25 cent ramen noodle packets I bought in college. Didn't know of the kind with oil packets.

[DeLurker]

Lol not in the 25 cent ramen noodle packets I bought in college. Didn't know of the kind with oil packets.

25 cents!  Big spender!

[mansonlamps]

25 cents!  Big spender!

And I had to split it with my roommate! I was a poor college student for sure.

[ramble]

A large majority of ramen noodles are fried before packaging. It's one of the reasons they cook quickly & supposedly adds shelf life. I imagine the noodles have a higher fat/calorie count than a standard noodle.

I added all kinds of stuff into packages in college, but since my house has gone gluten free they aren't an option. There are rice noodle style ramens but my kids really just want broth with noodles in it when they say ramen so that's what I make. I tried to convince them to let me add an egg or mushrooms or cheese. Nope, no go. Ramen to them is plain noodle soup. Because of that it's an occasional snack more than a meal.

[theredhead77]

Call me a cheap ramen snob but I prefer Sapporo Ichiban original ramen. There is no oil, just noodles and flavor and there are over 400 calories in it. I'd assume it's the noodles. I wish I could just buy the flavor and make it with soba or cellophane noodles.

 

[Athena]

I checked my ramen noodles and I think it's mostly for the noodles now too, but it's a bit difficult to tell as well since I think manufacturer's also have must put in the supplied stuff.

 

As for new foods, this year, I really started to eat and basically love two health foods:

 

Nutritional Yeast: I only know one other person in my circle who loves this. I always put this on my popcorn and now some of my soups. I like that yeasty/cheesey taste. I use the Bragg's and like the added nutrients as well.

 

Chia Seeds: I've been putting this in my oatmeal, but I tried the chia pudding for the first time. I really like the texture. I also think it's just as good as yogurt (if not better) as a digestive aid. I have somewhat sensitive stomach and this has helped.

[DeLurker]

Call me a cheap ramen snob but I prefer Sapporo Ichiban original ramen. There is no oil, just noodles and flavor and there are over 400 calories in it. I'd assume it's the noodles. I wish I could just buy the flavor and make it with soba or cellophane noodles.

 

Came from a large family and Sapporo, while very tasty, would have been too expensive to buy in the quantities we went through it.  We got used to Maruchen as kids so that became the "normal" taste to us.  My kids go through a fair amount so it becomes both a cost issue plus a supply issue.  I can only get the Sapporo in the Asian markets which are a bit of a schlep or at World Market which I go to infrequently. 

 

Google  DIY ramen seasoning and there's a fair number of ideas.  Some are pretty straight forward and some require almost every ingredient in your spice cabinet.  I like the discussions on Chowhound.  They tend to be a bit lengthier and easier for me to follow.

 

I'd probably go with a bone broth, some miso paste, green onions, white pepper (much finer than black), some fish and/or oyster sauce, soy sauce, ground ginger (not a big fan of fresh since it can overpower foods very easily, but that is my take), maybe a bit of Better than Boullion...play mad scientist!

 

I'd be careful with the soy sauce, BtB and miso paste - all are pretty big hits of sodium so you may end up with a salt bomb if you are not careful.  For the miso paste, I wouldn't worry about MSG myself.  There are some available without it but your seasoning packets with the ramen are typically loaded with the stuff.  I try to avoid it on general principal, but don't get overly concerned if I can't.

[theredhead77]

It was a treat in my house too. My mom wouldn't buy any ramen or "instant lunch" in general, so a literal treat to be shared 3 ways. Now if I buy it I dip the uncooked noodles in the flavor packet. Mmm sodium!

[DeLurker]

My daughter typically eats the uncooked noodles.  I'll used the unopened flavor packets as a seasoning shortcut when I am making fried rice or panfried noodles/noodle lo mein.

[annzeepark914]

When I was a kid, my mom would slice egglant, dip the slices in egg and then breadcrumbs and fry them until they were golden & crunchy. She'd serve them with a dollop of ketchup on the plate so I think that's why I consider fried eggplant to be "meat" even to this day. But then, I feel the same way about grilled portobello mushrooms.  I'm not even aware that I'm serving a vegetarian dinner until Mr. P914 says, "Now this is a great vegetarian meal".

 

Something new for me: cannellini beans. I liked a salad that I've bought from the Mediterranean Bar at Wegman's, marinated white beans.  So I've been buying cans of cannellini beans, rinsing them and then marinating them in fresh lemon juice mixed with olive oil, some seasonings and I toss in some carrots sliced on the diagonal and thin slices of red onion and maybe some cilantro and some cucumber.  I serve them as is and then toward the end, when there's not much left, I toss them in a salad.  And they're cheap!

[DeLurker]

Will you share that cannelli bean recipe you described?  It sounds very tasty!  And a very good choice for a hot summer day.

[annzeepark914]

Here's the recipe.  You can add whichever vegetables you have on hand.  I forgot about the cumin that I use in the chickpea salad. Next time I make this I'm going to add it 'cause it's delicious in the original salad (esp w/ the cilantro added). Cilantro is an option!

 

Marinated Cannellini Bean Salad

 

I used the dressing from another recipe (Marinated Chickpea Salad) because I like it so much:

 

Make this dressing in a large bowl:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsps fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp ground cumin (I forgot to use this so I guess it's optional ;>)

 

Cucumber, peeled, seeded & chopped

a few radishes sliced (optional)

some diced red onion

baby carrots sliced on diagonal

 

Rinse & drain a (15 oz) can of cannellini beans.  Add to dressing in bowl and stir to coat the beans.  Let sit about 25 minutes, occasionally stirring.  Before serving add remaining vegetables, season with salt and pepper to taste and you can also toss in some minced cilantro.

[DeLurker]

Thank you!

[ethalfrida]

I have become a real lover of alligator.  Also crave nopales tacos. But I want to know who has had camel's milk. Local market sells it but I wasn't brave.

[Bastet]

It's fattier than cow's milk (or at least tastes that way), but my understanding is it's also healthier in many respects.  Humans' consumption of milk is so odd to begin with, for the little I drink I tend to stick with the familiarity of cow's milk (although I drink 1%, which I don't even remember existing when I was a kid).

 

I love nopales.  Also the tuna of a cactus, despite the seeds.

[Snow Apple]

Just tried the Mac and Cheese with Bacon flavored Lay's chips. It didn't taste like mac and cheese and I couldn't taste the bacon. It tasted like your typical cheddar and sour cream chips.

[auntlada]

I haven't seen those. I tried the Lay's Wavy West Coast Truffle Fries chips, and they were really good.

[mansonlamps]

This isn't exactly on topic but I don't want to start a new one so here goes. I have recently become friends with a Vietnamese woman at work and she is always raving about how great Vietnamese food so we are going to go to a Vietnamese restaurant soon. I have no idea what to order and would like to know what to expect on the menu. I do know about Pho but that's about it. Anyone have recommendations with descriptions? I do like spicy food but I'm not sure that is even common to Vietnamese cuisine.

[Bastet]

I love Vietnamese food.  You can expect a lot of fresh, barely-cooked vegetables and herbs, vibrant color, and well-balanced taste.  There will probably be many options for pho, vermicelli noodle dishes, and bahn mi sandwiches.

 

Ginger, mint, Thai basil, and lemongrass are all common ingredients providing the flavor punch.

 

Does the restaurant have its menu online so you can read the descriptions in advance and have a better idea of what you might like to try?

[mansonlamps]

We don't have a specific restaurant picked out yet since there are many in the area but I'll definitely check the menu when I know. Your descriptions help a lot, it sounds delicious thanks. Love those flavors as well as crisp veggies so I should be good to go.

[MargeGunderson]

This isn't exactly on topic but I don't want to start a new one so here goes. I have recently become friends with a Vietnamese woman at work and she is always raving about how great Vietnamese food so we are going to go to a Vietnamese restaurant soon. I have no idea what to order and would like to know what to expect on the menu. I do know about Pho but that's about it. Anyone have recommendations with descriptions? I do like spicy food but I'm not sure that is even common to Vietnamese cuisine.

I love Vietnamese food too! My favorite in the summer is "bun" which is a vermicelli noodle bowl. There are different types of bun, but they all have very thin rice noodles, julienned carrots, cucumber and shredded lettuce. You can choose grilled meat, chicken or shrimp, and often tofu (I love the grilled pork). Then there is a small bowl of a thin sauce called nuoc cham that you pour over the noodles and vegetable. It's a combination of fish sauce (no fish, just slightly sour and salty), a little sugar, a touch of lime and perhaps some garlic and a touch of chili pepper (it's not spicy hot). It is a perfect meal on a hot day.

I wish my local Vietnamese restaurant delivered, for I am seriously lazy today.

Edited July 30, 2015 by MargeGunderson

[Sandman87]

One of the employees at the local supermarket recommended using Asian chicken salad dressing (the normal kind, not that "creamy" stuff) as a poultry marinade. I've tried it now with both baked and barbequed chicken, and it's good.

[DeLurker]

I could do without the fig preserves, but yum!  Good call on the garlic aioli.

[annzeepark914]

Two new things for me are:  Whole Foods "Confetti Cake", the one with chocolate frosting.  It has a light chocolate mousse filling and is divine!  It's in the Gluten-Free refrigerator case.  The other new dessert for me is Blue Bunny No Sugar Added vanilla ice cream.  It's low in fat too and the best thing is it's hard as a rock.  I loathe squishy ice cream (not talking about Dairy Queen which I love but that's a different texture).  All the light ice creams are soft by the time I get them home and don't harden up in my freezer.  But the Blue Bunny's no sugar added stays very firm...and the flavor is delicious, very vanilla-y.

[BooksRule]

The other new dessert for me is Blue Bunny No Sugar Added vanilla ice cream.  It's low in fat too and the best thing is it's hard as a rock.  I loathe squishy ice cream (not talking about Dairy Queen which I love but that's a different texture).  All the light ice creams are soft by the time I get them home and don't harden up in my freezer.  But the Blue Bunny's no sugar added stays very firm...and the flavor is delicious, very vanilla-y.

 

I agree about the NSA Blue Bunny.  I love 'regular' ice cream, but sometimes get the no sugar added kind in order to save a few calories.  The Blue Bunny doesn't mush up as quickly as regular, but it also doesn't get that 'toughness' in the freezer that other low-fat or NSA ice creams seem to get if they are left in there for more than few days.  I haven't tried all of their NSA flavors, but another one that I like is their NSA black raspberry ice cream bars with dark chocolate coating.  They are very tasty.  (My cat Maggie May likes 'em too.  She will beg at my side when I'm eating one and I will wait until I'm right at the end--since I can't give her chocolate--and let her lick the very last bit off of the stick.  Cats!)

[Tabbyclaw]

There was a bag of the Lay's gyro flavored kettle chips at the register when I was shopping today, and I am so very weak against weird potato chips. And they taste like a gyro. I don't know how they do it, and it's kind of disturbing, but oh my God I'm pretty sure I'm going to go through this entire bag way faster than is remotely healthy.

[MargeGunderson]

There was a bag of the Lay's gyro flavored kettle chips at the register when I was shopping today, and I am so very weak against weird potato chips. And they taste like a gyro. I don't know how they do it, and it's kind of disturbing, but oh my God I'm pretty sure I'm going to go through this entire bag way faster than is remotely healthy.

The Lay's truffle fries chips were pretty good. I also broke down and tried the southern biscuits and gravy chips. They tasted like very mild sausage.

[auntlada]

The Lay's truffle fries chips were pretty good. I also broke down and tried the southern biscuits and gravy chips. They tasted like very mild sausage.

 

I loved the truffle fries chips. I'm afraid of the biscuits and gravy chips.

[Quof]

Good god, haven't tried any of these yet but I do have 5 days in America in early October, then another 4 in early November.  Think I can try them all?

 

http://www.people.com/people/greatideas/gallery/0,,20945833,00.html

[DeLurker]

I just saw the Noosa Pumpkin Yoghurt in the store yesterday and decided to check it out since I have an unnatural affection for the tart cherry.  The pumpkin is seriously good!

[blueray]

I recently tried Lobester and liked it. It was a small leg that I had with my steak.

[Crim]

Brown rice is amazing.

[DeLurker]

After not liking cabbage my entire life (well, I like Napa cabbage but that doesn't seem like cabbage to me), I recently had some and was astounished to find I really really liked it.  So far I have had it in Chinese dishes and have not ventured into other possible versions.  Made some stir fry style last night using the cast iron pan I had just used to cook a steak in - thin cut cabbage, thin cut celery, sliced onions and matchstick carrots.  Turned out decent  - I under cooked it so the cabbage still had more crunch than I was hoping for, but a decent first effort.  Will be continuing to experiment with this.

[BooksRule]

Brown rice is amazing.

 

Here in the south, white rice is our main 'starch' for a side dish (or as a base to pile something on--red beans, gumbo, gravy, etc.) and I grew up on the stuff. I started eating brown rice because I needed to get away from white rice (for health reasons).  I didn't care for it at first (it seemed to require so much more chewing than white rice), but now I really like it.  I still fix white rice on the rare occasion that I make gumbo or something like that, but brown rice is my new 'go to' side.  I don't make it from scratch too often, but the frozen kind isn't bad.

[Qoass]

When I take the time to cook brown rice, I always make too much and freeze what I don't need.

[Tabbyclaw]

I fully embrace the pumpkin spice hype while it's here (it lasts just long enough for me to not be thoroughly sick of it by December), so naturally I had to try the Ben & Jerry's pumpkin cheesecake ice cream. I was expecting it to be of good quality because of the brand, but other than that I was just expecting the same flavor that everyone else is putting out, just with bits of graham cracker crust.

 

Nope. This is indeed pumpkin cheesecake ice cream, with that perfect cream cheese tang under the spice. It is a wonderful thing, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

[chessiegal]

I like quinoa because it contains all the essential amino acids we need. I'm not vegan, but I do enjoy foods that are good for you that don't have meat. But quinoa by itself is so bland, you have to dress it up. My Whole Foods has a quinoa salad on the salad bar that is very good, and even better with a squeeze of lemon. I have a friend who is in the food biz (not a chef, but works in the industry), and she once told me she does not like quinoa because it is so bland - thus the need to add flavor. Today on The Chew, they were talking about just this topic, and quinoa came up. They made a roasted vegetable quinoa salad that had a lemon based dressing. Mario Batali was having none of it. He said if you have quinoa you might as well have sand. This cracked me up because it reminded me of my friend. Some of the cast said that to them quinoa reminded them of brown rice in that it had a little nutty flavor to it. I'm always on the lookout for quinoa recipes.

Edited October 6, 2015 by chessiegal

[MargeGunderson]

I had pumpkin spice frosted mini wheats for dinner. They were cinnamon-y and pretty tasty, but I was a little put off by the resulting orange milk. Next time I'll eat them faster!