Dips, by Dipin

I Love Snacking is a company that produces Mediterranean snacks, aimed primarily at airlines and vending machines, but some of their products are available in supermarkets too.  Each product line has its own label, so you likely haven't heard of the parent company before.

One line is Oloves, flavored olives.  I saw them once on a plane, I think Virgin America?  Another is Stuff'd, rice stuffed dolmas.  Fruity Pie is a new line not yet available.  I haven't tried any of these, but I did try their Dipin line, made up of assorted Mediterranean dips.

All are gluten-free, vegan.  Since I love sauces, and dips in general, I was excited to try these out.  Sadly, I didn't love any of them, as they really didn't seem all that fresh, clearly packaged, preserved items.  The flavors were also too strong, at least for me, partially due to the fact that many included ingredients that I don't like much to begin with, so having them accented was the opposite of what I wanted.

I like the idea of having healthy, pre-packaged, Mediterranean snacks, but these didn't really live up to my standards.

Pepper & Artichoke Bruscetta.

I started with the pepper & artichoke bruschetta: "grilled peppers, artichokes, fresh garlic, tomato, and a delicate dash of herbs."

As a dip, it didn't quite work for me.  I didn't taste the artichoke, which didn't bother me since I don't care for artichoke, but I was surprised by how prevalent the tomato flavor was, given that it wasn't part of the product name.  It was also a bit mushy and oily.  But my biggest issue is that it just didn't seem fresh.

I think it would have been decent spread on some bread, like real bruscetta, but I'm not sure what I'd want to just dip into it.  Sadly, it was my favorite of the dips.

Black Olive Tapenade.

Next, I went for the tapenade: "black olives, extra virgin olive oil, and a smattering of mountain herbs".

Well, you ask for black olive, and you get it.  This was soo incredibly olive-y.  Like the bruscetta, it was too oily for me.  It was also very salty.  And again, I'm not sure what I'd want to dip in it, I think they need to re-brand as spreads, not dips.

I liked it best when combined with the hummus, as the two very strong flavors helped mellow each other out a bit.  My second favorite of the dips, but I wouldn't try it again.

Classic Hummus.

Lastly, the hummus: "chick peas, tahini, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and a smidge of cumin".

I don't generally like hummus, since I don't like chickpeas.  But I at least wanted to try it.

I know they say this is "classic", but is adding tahini actually a standard thing?  I didn't think it was, but I certainly don't have much experience with hummus.  As I feared, it was very chickpea-y, but did also have the taste of tahini to it.  Very smooth and creamy.  But, for me, just too much chickpea.  It was best mixed with the tapenade to mellow both of the intense flavors out.

My least favorite.

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Paladar Cafe Cubano

Paladar is a Cuban cafe in the Financial District.  Cuban isn't a cuisine I generally gravitate towards, but sometimes, I really start to crave yuca and plantains, so I decided to check it out.

Paladar is a cute looking place, with table seating, but I got my dishes to go.  They are up to date with modern mobile payment systems, offering both Paypal and LevelUp.

Unfortunately, I really did not like any of the dishes I got.  While not exactly the same style, it was about on par with Destino, a Peruvian restaurant, where my dining companions and I actually left after eating our appetizers, as we decided it wasn't worth ordering anything else.  Just like Destino, everything at Paladar was overly oily and completely flavorless (besides the strong oil flavor).

Charanga’s Yuca Frita & Chipotle Aioli. $6.

"Classic crispy cassava served with mildly spicy sauce"

I've been seriously craving yuca lately.  I was so exited for this.

Unfortunately, it was awful.

Visually, it didn't look great: the pieces of yuca were tiny little chunks, which was a bit disappointing.  They also looked really greasy.  But I still dug in.

They were nasty. So incredibly oily.  I did not taste the yuca at all.  Honestly, all you could taste was oil.  They were  hot, and crispy, but really not good at all.

I love dipping sauces, so I actually went for a third chunk, even after my initial dislike of the first two, excited to at least slather it in the dipping sauce.  I didn't like the sauce either.  It just tasted ... strange.

Limon Rotisserie  definitely had better yuca fries, and far, far better sauces.

$6 for the full size portion of just a few chunks (this photo is before I had any!) really seemed incredibly overpriced.  I clearly would never get this again.

Mariquitas & Mojo.  Small size.  $2.75.

"House-made plantain chips with garlic dipping sauce".

After the fail with the fried yuca, I decided to try out the plantain chips, another favorite of mine.

Just like the yuca, the plantain chips were overly oily, and didn't have much flavor to them besides the oil.  They also weren't very well salted.  I did like how crispy they were, and how large the slices were.

The mojo was incredibly disappointing.  I'm a dips girl, so I wanted it to be good, but it really wasn't.  Watery, slightly garlic-y, slight citrus tang, but really not much going on.

La Mar Cebicheria definitely had both better plantain chips, and far superior sauces.

The $2.75 price for a small was fine, but I would not get this again.

Plátanos Maduros, half-portion. $2.75. 

As a quasi-dessert, I also got the maduros, fried sweet plantains.  They were much better than the yuca.  Sweet, decent flavor.  Not good exactly, as they were kinda soggy, and a bit oily.

I wouldn't get this dish again, but it wasn't horrible.  $2.75 for the half portion was a fine price.

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Hershey Candy

Today's chocolate review is a little different from the norm, in that I'm pretty sure that 100% of people reading this have enjoyed their products before.  Ok, perhaps not enjoyed, but certainly tried!  This chocolate maker needs no introduction.  This is America's default chocolate: Hershey.

I'm including them here for completeness, and because I encountered a lot of Hershey chocolate over Halloween, so I have tried a lot of it recently.  It is pretty much exactly what I remember.

Hershey Kisses

• Air Delight:  "Milk chocolate gently blended into a light, airy texture." Tasting notes: Not good milk chocolate, strange airy texture.
• Special Dark: Tasting notes: Not complex dark chocolate, but decent bitterness to it.  Very creamy for a dark.
• Mint Truffle: "Sweet mint truffle center surrounded by classic Hershey chocolate".  Tasting notes:  Milk chocolate was standard forgettable Hershey, center has minty filling but mostly just sweet.  Not interesting.
• Hugs: “Milk chocolate hugged by sweet white cream. "  Tasting notes: Tasteless milk chocolate, tasteless white milk chocolate, meh.
• Caramel: "Milk Chocolates Filled with Caramel." Tasting notes: Too sweet, poor quality chocolate, meh.

Hershey Bars

• Milk Chocolate with Almonds: Tasting notes: Really, their chocolate is just not good.  Waxy, no chocolate flavor, meh.  At least the mouthfeel is decent?  The almonds were fairly flavorful, and there were a generous amount in the bar.  But this was just not very good.

Hershey Miniatures

• Special Dark: "Mildly sweet chocolate bar".  Tasting notes: Very smooth, fairly chocolatey, but not much going on here.  Not complex.  Slight chemical flavor on the finish. [ "dark"?  Seriously.  This is a very sweet piece of chocolate, no dark chocolate complexity at all.  Pleasant, not offensive, but certainly not dark chocolate. ]
• mr. Goodbar: "Crunchy blend of freshly roasted peanuts and chocolate candy."  Tasting notes: This really had no flavor.  Lots of tiny chunks of peanuts, but no peanut flavor.  Chocolate not creamy or really very good.  These used to be my favorite of all of the miniatures! [ I love all the bits of crunch, but, this is very boring chocolate. ]

Reese's

• Reese's Pieces: "Peanut butter in crunchy candy shell."  Tasting notes: Pretty tasty, I want them in a sundea with hot fudge, peanut butter sauce, and whipped cream though :)
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: "Peanut butter surrounded by milk chocolate." Tasting notes: I used to love these.  They still hold a pretty special place in my heart.  Is the peanut butter filling more fillers than peanuts?  Probably.  Is the milk chocolate coating the same generic stuff Hershey uses in all of their products?  Yes. But ... can you really resist the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, even if they aren't exactly high quality?  I can't.  The filling is creamy, has enough peanut butter flavor so that you know what you are eating, and the chocolate, while crappy, combines perfectly.  Sure I'd prefer a higher end version of this, but sometimes, a Reese's peanut butter cup really hits the spot.  And they go great on froyo. [ Yes, low quality ingredients, but totally irresistible! ]
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Dark: "Classic peanut butter smothered in rich, dark chocolate".  Tasting notes: I thought this would be good, as I like dark chocolate far more than milk chocolate.  And I enjoyed my last peanut butter cup.  But, this wasn't very good.  The dark chocolate was not complex and it overshadowed the peanut butter, so all you tasted was not very good dark chocoalte.  Meh.

Other Chocolate Candy

Whoppers.

"Malted milk balls covered with a chocolate-flavored coating".

Not very flavorful malted center, crappy milk chocolate coating, very sweet.  I do like how the center melts in your mouth! [  I used to love these, or so I thought.  Hmm.  Again, crappy chocolate coating.  Inside just sweet and not as malty/interesting as i remember ... I thought it disentegrated all interestingly, but this was kinda just boring. ] [ These just are not good! The chocolate was horrible, and the inside was just ... there.  MEH. ]

Take 5.

"A unique taste experience by combining pretzels, caramel, peanuts and peanut butter, and covering it all with chocolate". 

Very crunchy!  But crappy chocolate.  Pretzels were kinda stale tasting.  Didn't really detect much caramel nor peanut butter.  This sounded like a great combo of sweet and salty, but didn't really come through. [ Majority of this bar is just pretzel.  And not goods ones at that.  And then lots of  crappy chocolate.  Not sure where the peanuts, caramel, or peanut butter were.  Sounds good, but isn't. ]

Rolo.

"Chewy caramels in milk chocolate"

Meh, not very good chocolate, not very good caramel.  Do not like.

Almond Joy.

"Coconut and crunchy almonds in creamy milk chocolate."

Milk chocolate coating, sweet mushy coconut inside, almond.  Just kinda sweet, crappy chocolate, almond did have decent flavor.  I’m clearly spoiled by eating macarons. [ Crappy chocolate.  crappy coconut.  just not good at all. ] [ Crappy milk chocolate, gooey coconut that doesn’t taste all that much like coconut, a single almond that doesn’t have much flavor … I want to like this, as I love all the components, but it is just too low quality. ] [ Just mushy coconut filling that isn't that great, cheap chocolate, flavorless nut.  Meh. ]

Heath Bar.

"Toffee coated in milk chocolate."

Very hard to bite into, solid toffee.  Toffee not very flavorful.  Milk chocolate is generic crappy Hershey.  Not very good at at all :( [ Crap chocolate crap toffee.] [ Hard, not very good, meh.  Maybe good crumbled on ice cream? ] [ I adore this mixed into my soft serve ice cream! ]

York Peppermint Patty.

"The cool, refreshing taste of mint dipped in smooth dark chocolate."

I remember loving these when I was younger, I always liked the strong mint taste and the dark chocolate.  But now ... I don't find them minty enough at all.  And the chocolate I thought was super dark is really just mediocre chocolate, without a deep flavor.  Meh to this.

I also used to love freezing these, but, even freezing them doesn't save them for me anymore.

Non-Chocolate Candy

Twizzlers.

"Strawberry flavored licorice twists." 

Chewy texture is nice, but I swear these used to actually be more flavorful, where is the strawberry flavor?

Subsequent notes: They kinda taste like plastic.  But I enjoy the chew.

Jolly Rancher.

• Hard Candy Doubles: orange/green apple.  Tasting notes: not classic jolly rancher shape, this was a round hard candy.  Liked green apple half but not orange.
• Fruit Chews: Tasting notes: tasted like plastic.  Horrible.

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LÄRABAR

As you know, I'm always on a quest to find tasty snack bars to stuff in my purse.  I have found some winners, but, generally, I dislike them.  Granola bars are always dry and boring, protein bars tend to tasty funky, and the only ones I tend to like are soft baked breakfast-style bars.  But I keep trying.

LÄRABAR is rather near the top of my dislike list.  They make several product lines: the classic LÄRABAR, ALT protein bars, über snack bars, and Jŏcalat chocolate bars.  I've only tried the originals and the über bars.

Original LÄRABAR

LÄRABAR is their original line, made from unsweetened fruits, nuts, and spices.  Each bar has fewer than 9 ingredients.  Most use dates as the base.

The names of the bars sound like decadent desserts.  They always tempt me, with their names alone.  Spoiler: they don't remotely resemble their namesakes.  They aren't tasty.

Apple Pie LÄRABAR.

Made from apples and dates, almonds and walnuts, and spiced with cinnamon and raisins.

The aroma on this was really lovely.  It smelt like a well spiced apple pie.  So far, so good.

But ... I did not like the taste at all.  The apples were mushy, and although the dates provided a bit of sweetness, the nuts were sour and bitter.

This was nothing remotely like an apple pie!

Blueberry Muffin.

Made from a base of blueberries and dates, with walnuts, lemon juice, and vanilla.

Now, I like blueberry muffins.  But after the "apple pie", you'd think that I'd be prepared for the Blueberry Muffin LÄRABAR to not remotely resemble a blueberry muffin.  But ... I was foolish, and still somehow thought that I'd find blueberry muffin inside.

Instead I found ... surprise, nuts and dates.  This time, with some blueberries, yes, but the dominant flavor was still dates, and the texture was all mushy.  I didn't even want a second bite of this.

Cashew Cookie.

Basically just cashews and dates.  This was certainly nothing like a cookie.  Did not like. Gross, gross.

Peanut Butter Cookie.

Same as the cashew "cookie", but with peanuts.  I liked the peanut flavor, but, overwhelmed with date flavor.  I just do not like these.  And why, why, why do they name it "cookie"?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.  

Another base of dates, with peanuts and chocolate chips.

Peanuts are good.  Chocolate is good.  Together they are better.  I thought that would save the fact that it is still a date based bar but ... no such luck.  I just do not like the date base, and thought it tasted really strange against the peanut flavors.  And the texture was all wrong.  Do not like.

 über Bars

The über line is their fun snacks, a mix of sweet and salty, made from fruits and nuts.

Bananas Foster über Bar.

Made from almonds, walnuts, and pecans, along with dried bananas, sweetened with brown rice syrup and honey, held together with dates, and spiced with salt and cinnamon. 

This sounded very fascinating.  Who doesn't love bananas foster?  I was hoping for a sweet, nutty, banana-y treat.  Instead, it really was just a bunch of nuts glued together, with a bit of a banana aftertaste.  I think the name of it just made me expect, and want, something very different, so I didn't end up liking it very much.  I could imagine it perhaps being good melted over some vanilla ice cream?  But ... not just as a bar.

[ No Photo ]

Roasted Nut Roll.

Made from almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, sweetened with brown rice syrup and honey, held together with dates.

Basically a bunch of mixed nuts stuck together with a slightly sweet date paste, salty too. Not bad … almost really good.

Subsequent tasting notes:  Great mix of nuts, sweet, but satisfying.  [ Just a bunch of nuts and sweet binder, not particularly good nor bad. ] [ Salty, good nuts. ] [ Good mix of nuts, nice sweetness, yum ] [ Love this thing.  Great nuts, great sweetness, yum yum yum .]

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Yet Another Pinkberry!

Consolidated in master Pinkberry post.

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Amazing Dinner by Chef Batson, Munchery

You've heard me rave about the local meal delivery service, Munchery, before.  I've been using it for more than a year now, for everything from simple comfort food dinners, to a fun play on a Heston Blumenthal's Chocolate and Cauliflower Risotto, to my entire Thanksgiving feast.  I've even used Munchery to get breakfast baked goods.  My absolute favorite Munchery order, perhaps not shocking if you know me, was the pumpkin pie cheesecake for dessert.  Well, my favorite before today that is.

Munchery meals are prepared by individual chefs, so there is some variance in the quality and style of food, depending on the chef whose dishes you choose.  But one chef I've had my eye on since she joined a few months ago is Chef Bridget Batson, previously executive chef at Gitane and Claudine.  Her menus always sound really appealing to me, very vegetable forward, focusing on seasonality and lighter dishes.  A few months ago, right when she joined Munchery, I tried her winter salad and shrimp cocktail, but I really wasn't impressed.

I've wanted to try her cuisine again to give her another chance, but, Munchery only operates on weekdays, for dinner only, and I am provided rather spectacular dinner at work during the week.  I really wish Munchery was available on weekends or at lunch time!

I recently had a realization though - although their primary service is dinner the evening you receive it, there are some styles of food that can keep well for a day, and since the food is delivered cold and designed to be finished by you at home, this can work reasonably well.  So when I saw Chef Batson offering a baked pasta dish on a Friday night, I speculated that it would still be fine for dinner on Saturday, and quickly sent the chef a message using Munchery's "Ask the Chef" feature to see if she agreed.  I had a response minutes later, and, as I expected, she assured me it would make for an excellent Saturday night dinner.

Everything about ordering from Munchery was easy as ever, from viewing the menus, to seeing the gorgeous photos of the dishes, complete with descriptions of each dish and what additional preparation would be required at home.  My order arrived at the start of my selected delivery window, which, since I wasn't planning to eat it that night wasn't necessary, but was very re-assuring.  When is the last time a delivery order ever arrived on time?

But the best part?  This was my favorite meal from Munchery so far.  I'd order it again in a heartbeat.  You should too :)  If you are interested in Munchery, use my invite link, you'll even get $20 off your first order!

Stuffed Pasta Shells: greens, ricotta cheese, cauliflower "cream".  $10.95.

"Large pasta shells stuffed with kale and Swiss chard braised with garlic and a pinch of chili, folded into ricotta cheese with lemon zest baked in a rich puree of cauliflower and Parmesan cheese."

I've been really craving pasta lately.  I'm not quite sure what it is, but something about a big bowl of warm pasta seems so appealing.  Perfect comfort food.

I was particularly interested in the stuffed shells from Chef Batson, because I know she likes to incorporate a lot of vegetables, and takes a healthier spin on dishes.  This sounded like it would still tick all the boxes of cheesy comfort food, but sneak in some serious vegetables and perhaps not be too heavy?

I opened the package the moment I received it, just to check them out.  The dish didn't actually look that great.  Shells in a kinda thick white sauce.  Herbs sprinkled on top, along with unmelted cheese.  I know the idea with Munchery is that I finish the cooking at home, so the cheese would melt then, but it still didn't look all that appealing.  I re-packaged the shells into a plastic container, since I wasn't sure about leaving them in cardboard for the next day, and hoped for the best.

The instructions said to reheat at 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes.  I was skeptical.  How would they possibly warm up that fast?  And, indeed, they didn't.  I heated them for at least 10 minutes, and then finished them under the broiler.  The aroma coming from my toaster oven was incredible.  As I pulled the casserole dish out, and all thoughts I originally had about them not looking impressive vanished.  They cooked up beautifully, I wish I had taken a photo of the finished product.  Piping hot and bubbly.  The cheese that made contact with the edges of my casserole dish was crispy, and the edges of the shells got a bit crunchy, exactly what I was aiming for with the broiler.

They were too hot to dive immediately into, but I enjoyed waiting for them to cool for moment, as they smelt incredible.  I was honestly happy just sitting there inhaling the garlic aroma.  I had even almost convinced myself, in my mind at least, that I was about to sit down to a home cooked meal, the smell so permeated my apartment.

My happiness grew as soon as I took my first bite.

Inside the shells was, as promised, a mixture of kale and Swiss chard, finely chopped, braised with garlic and chili, along with ricotta cheese.  As I was hoping, there was a plentiful amount of the greens.  Don't get me wrong, they weren't just filled with greens, there was plenty of ricotta as well.  The balance between the ingredients was just right.  You could taste the ricotta, it was a creamy filling, but the flavor of the greens was the amazing part.  The garlic that I could smell was evident in the filling, but didn't overwhelm.  Little hints of chili made the flavors pop even more, but again, didn't overwhelm.  And the acidity from lemon zest just accented the flavor of the greens.  Seriously delicious filling, and the shells were a great vessel for it, but it could easily be used in any form of stuffed pasta, or in layers of a lasagna.

The shells themselves were standard large size pasta shells, well cooked, and did not get mushy waiting a day to consume.  I liked how I crisped them up a bit when I heated the dish, but if you just heated them without the broiler, I think they would have been fine too.

The final element was the one I was most skeptical of: the sauce.  I love sauces.  I'm such a sauce girl.  I like cauliflower, I've even had my share of cauliflower mac and cheese or mashed faux-potatoes using cauliflower, but I wasn't exactly excited about a cauliflower sauce.  In my head, stuffed shells really should have a red sauce.  Or, if it was going to be a white sauce, it really should be a very rich alfredo.  Cauliflower puree?  Hmm.

I needed not worry.  Like everything else in the dish, it totally delivered.  It was creamy, and yes, it did taste like cauliflower, but, it did so in a way that just worked.  I think because you could taste the greens so dominantly in the filling, it made sense to also taste a vegetable in the sauce.  And, just like the filling, the sauce did clearly have cheese, in this case parmesan, so it was still comfort food.

Everything about this dish was just spot on.  It was an example of how you can lighten up a classic dish like stuffed shells to incorporate vegetables, yet still keep it feeling fairly decadent, but simultaneously not weight you down.  It was a demonstration of ingredients in perfect harmony - just enough cheese to satisfy a comfort food craving, balanced by the right amount veggies to feel healthy, enough chili pepper, garlic, and lemon zest to make all the flavors pop, but nothing dominating.  I have a hard time imagining anyone this dish wouldn't please.  Even if the ingredients don't sound amazing to you, the way they all balance out creates a truly phenomenal dish.  While not high end cuisine, I'd gladly order this at an Italian restaurant any day.

I'd obviously order this again.  It worked perfectly for a next day meal, which is very encouraging for me, since I don't normally order from Munchery since I don't need weeknight meals.  If you managed not to eat it all, or perhaps ordered an extra, I'm guessing it would freeze well too.  If you wanted to impress your friends, you could order a big batch and serve it at a dinner party.  It is "simple" enough home cook food that no one would doubt you prepared it, but they'd be blown away by the skilled application of flavor.

When I placed the order, $10.95 seemed maybe a bit high for "just pasta", but the serving size was very generous.  Ojan and I were able to split it for dinner, with a salad on the side, and a half serving was perfect.  And, while you can probably get cheaper stuffed shells at some Italian restaurants, I guarantee they would not be this good.  Order this dish.  Now.

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More Godiva Chocolates

Merged into my main Godiva review.

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