Are any of you, like us, slightly overwhelmed by the choice of products in supermarkets these days? A quick dash to pick up a few essentials and you find yourself in a quagmire of decisions about sustainability… is the packaging reusable, or plastic-free, or at least recyclable? Where was this grown, or made, and how did it get here? Is it a high-quality product, made with natural ingredients? Is it healthy? What’s the price per gram? Suddenly you’re weighing up the importance of one of these issues over another, since products rarely tick all the boxes.
We’ve been having these shopping calamities for many years, but have learned a lot in that time and we thought we’d share our favourites with you here. These have become well-loved regulars for us for many reasons relating to flavour, packaging, quality and nutrition. Right now we’re living in Dunedin in New Zealand, and of course these products aren’t all globally available, but we hope the reasons for making these choices help you to find your happy shopping place. We’d love to hear what your favourites are, all around the world! We’ll keep adding ours here.
Butter
We were SUPER excited to find this Naturli’ organic vegan block in NZ supermarkerts recently. It is VASTLY superior to all other plant-based butters we’ve tried for several reasons:
1) Firstly, it tastes delicious. Just like ‘real’ butter.
2) It comes wrapped in paper, not in a plastic tub (a rare find)
3) It spreads beautifully, but also melts beautifully, so it’s amazing on toast
4) Great in baking. This makes fluffy, golden, light cakes, far better than using oil (which I find gives cakes a bit of an odd flavour and can make them a bit dense).
Soy sauce
We use a lot of soy sauce in our dishes, so the flavour is really important. This is our favourite – it’s traditionally made by fermentation, and adds a wonderful depth to so many meals.
Watch out for brands that are largely just salty coloured water with hardly a sniff of a real soy bean – it really makes a difference to your cooking.
This also coms in a glass bottle, so no plastic and it can be easily recycled.
Sesame Oil
We only discovered sesame oil in the last year or so, and it’s been a pretty revolutionary find! Combined with a splash of (good quality) soy sauce, a drizzle of sesame oil gives steamed veggies (like broccoli) a flavour BANG! Another glass bottle, so a win for being plastic-free.
Coconut Yoghurt
Thick and creamy, we love this yoghurt on it’s own and in a myriad of dishes. It makes a beautifully smooth and delicious breakfast on oats or pancakes, and with fruit in the morning. It’s hugely versatile, so here’s some other ways we enjoy it:
- Mixed with a little harissa paste to go inside wraps with roasted veg or crunchy cauliflower bites;
- Spooned onto a spicy curry;
- In sandwiches (one favourite being marinated tofu with a sesame carrot slaw and coconut yoghurt. Mmmm mmm!)
- As an egg-replacement in baking.
The glass jar is a great size for re-using. We fill these with nuts/seeds/dried fruit etc. It can also be recycled more easily than plastic.
Dark Chocolate
It can only ever be Whittaker’s. The 62% dark cacao is our favourite for decadence and intensity. There is also a 50% (slightly sweeter) and 72% (slightly more bitter), depending on your preference.
Peanut butter
We use a lot of peanut butter in various dishes, and a pot of Crunchy Bay Road does not last long in our house. It’s 99.7% peanuts and just a dash of pink Himalayan salt. We love that you can drop the empty jars back to them and get a refill… so no packaging issues at all.
Thai curry paste
I really love to make a fresh Thai curry paste, but it’s not easy to find all the fresh ingredients in Dunedin, so we’ve got into the habit of buying it. It does save some time too! This Ayam red curry paste is really delicious. It only contains plants, and is packed with fragrant lemongrass and fruity chillies.
Beware of brands that are mostly sugar, vegetable oils and salt, you won’t get the full rounded richness like you do with this lovely one.
Glass jar – yay!
Coconut milk
Always check the ingredients list on the back of the tin when you buy coconut milk. You’d be amazed how little coconut goes into some brands. This one is 99.7% fresh coconut milk, and it makes SO much difference.
This seems to be a rare find – lots of other tins have anything between 40-70% coconut, and the rest is water and thickening agents and nasty things.
Embellishments
As a quick final thought when it comes to maximising flavour (and nutrition) in your dishes, don’t forget you can pimp almost any dish with toasted nuts and seeds, a scattering of fresh torn herbs, a drizzle of high quality olive oil, a splash of fresh lemon juice or zest… whatever sounds fun to you. Try these on soups, salads, roast veg, pattie stacks, in sandwiches and wraps, and anywhere else.
Seeds – We toast pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame seeds regularly and add them to lots of dishes for extra crunch, texture, a deep nutty flavour.
Fresh herbs – finely chop and sprinkle over soups, stews, pasta dishes, etc with a drizzle of olive oil. They add a lovely fresh punch and a bit of jazz, making everything feel a little bit special. We have a tiny garden, but it supplies us with plenty of mint, basil, oregano, parsley, chives, and coriander. We chomp through it like crazy!
Nuts – We toast almonds, walnuts, and cashews pretty regularly and a little goes a long way.
Kitchen 1.5 
I’m not overwhelmed by the offerings, just annoyed. There may be 20 cereals on offer, but no room for my favourite yoghurt. 🙂 I recognise and use many of the products you talk about. Thanks for your suggestions. I’ve only recently discovered pumpkin seeds, I dry fry them, yum.
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