Everything you’d expect to find at a full-service grocery store is what you’ll find in our Grocery Department — except it’s all natural, without artificial ingredients, irradiation, genetic modification, animal by-products or pesticides. Meat, fish, beer, wines, and liquor are the only grocery items we don’t carry.
Product Requests
Vince Hoffman, Grocery Manager
Back by request: Mount Hagen decaf instant coffee; Mimicreme sweetened cream substitute; Purrz Kitty Treats.
Not quite yet (with reason): Vegan graham crackers (not aware of one available to us); Bueno roasted garbonzo coffee substitute (need it with a current distributor); more flavors GT’s Kombucha (although we will figure out a way soon); organic apple juice sweetened cranberries (availability); organic evaporated milk (availability); Sweetleaf original ice tea in the cooler (no room at the inn).
Thank you for the requests, and yes we do have the best selection of yogurts in town!
New Items
Sevanandans are a generally wholesome and healthy bunch, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love a good snack! New chips include Mediterranean lentil chips, Popcorn Indiana wasabi popcorn and Chip’ins (popcorn chips), Boulder hummus tortilla chips and Blue Diamond Nut Chips (look for them with the rice cakes). While not brand new Beanitos bean chips continue to be very popular as a very nutritious and common allergen free alternative to traditional chips.
For the DIY crowd we now have yogurt and kefir starters, Johns Mountain date and tapioca syrups, and Maplehouse — a new less expensive brand of maple syrup. Big news for many is that we can finally get a reasonable priced raw tahini — and watch for Artisana to be on sale in July. And with the canned peppers and refried beans look for Rosa Mexicano, a delicious variety of sauces.
Locally speaking, we have just started carrying West End Creamery ice cream. Relatively new is Nazifa’s naan bread, baked fresh and delivered every other day. This has been a hit right out of the gate, and when she samples it out people cannot resist! Also, an old friend is back with some Taylor Organic/Split Cedar Farm-jams, juices and relish from just south of us in Ellenwood.
In bulk the brands of bulk rice continue to change for us. We are now featuring several Doguet rices. They are from Texas and very reasonably priced. Our white basmati continues to be from the Hogue family and Southern Brown Rice in Arkansas, but we cannot get their brown basmati anymore, which has been a staple here for decades. We proudly carry Lundberg from California for their high quality specialty varieties but have generally gone with less expensive and closer Arkansas/Louisianna (and now Texas) rice for our basics.
By Shannon Lawless, Grocery Department
We’re glad you stopped by the Grocery department’s new blog. Sometimes it will be about something you may have never noticed before or maybe it will be an old favorite that you’ve forgotten about. This month’s blog is written by Shannon Lawless and in her own words; Shannon has been a team Member in the Grocery department for five years. If you need any assistance, just follow the sound of the loudest cackle you’ve ever heard.
From time to time in this column, I will highlight new and interesting products in the grocery department. A new product that has been flying off the shelves lately is Nazifa’s All Natural Nan, a traditional flatbread made in a bakery in Decatur. You can find this bread at many different markets around town, but Nazifa makes a special version with organic flour just for Sevananda. On many Sundays and Wednesdays, you can find the baker herself in our store, sampling both the white and whole wheat varieties. If you are lucky enough to catch her with freshly made bread, still hot from the oven, you will truly be thankful. It is wonderful for Sevananda to have such a relationship with a local bakery that a treat like fresh bread is available to our customers. On sample days, she serves her nan simply, with olive oil and the spice blend zatar, letting the bread’s flavor shine. This hand-made, tandoori-baked nan is soft but not chewy, bubbly, but substantial.Make sure to stop by and talk to Nazifa. She is a jocular woman whose passion for what she does shines through. She works hard every day to make the best flatbread in Atlanta, and now she is reaping the rewards with great reviews in Creative Loafing and the AJC. And who doesn’t like meeting the person who bakes their bread?I often buy a pack of Nazifa’s nan and find it gone within days. I even went to the farmer’s market just so I could have zatar at home to go with it! It’s a bread that can serve as a compliment to any meal, or as a meal in itself. Lately, I have been making delicious flatbread pizzas with it. It’s a simple, fast meal that is really satisfying. I like to spread olive oil on the nan, cover with spinach, Vidalia onion, red peppers and dollops of fresh chevre. I then bake the pizza on a cookie sheet for 6 to 8 minutes at 450 degrees. What emerges is crispy, light and delicious. I treated a friend of mine to a nan pizza for dinner a few days ago and now he’s hooked!You can find Nazifa’s All Natural Nan on our bread rack. Four pieces of either whole wheat or white nan are only $3.99. Try it and you’ll be hooked too!
BLACK-EYED PEAS: THE SOUTH’S LUCKY LEGUME
By the Bulk Twins: Khalid Makalani and Kate Chandler
To we Southerners, there is a well-known New Year’s Day tradition that our grandparents have kept alive in all of its unusual intrigue; and we must admit — ‘tis a most delicious tradition: the beloved serving of black-eyed peas. SO FULFILLING! SO TASTY! SO EARTHY! Yes, the ritualistic marriage of black-eyed peas with corn bread, cabbage, or collard greens screams “HAPPY NEW YEAR” louder than any fireworks here in Dixie.Uhhhh….. outside of plain good taste, is there a reason for this specific legume as top choice on Southern dinner tables on January 1st?Apparently! According to Southern folklore, black-eyed peas must be the FIRST food to be eaten on New Year’s Day for luck and prosperity throughout the year ahead: they represent coins alongside greens (paper money). In fact, for the best chance of luck every day in the year ahead, one must eat at least 365 black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day! These “good luck” traditions date back to the U.S. Civil War. Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General William Tecumseh Sherman, would typically strip the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock and destroy whatever they couldn’t carry away. At that time, Northerners considered “field peas” and corn suitable only for animal fodder, and as a result didn’t steal or destroy these humble foods. Many Southerners survived as a result of this mistake. Interestingly enough, the “good luck” traditions of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day are recorded in the Babylonian Talmud (compiled in 500 CE).
Originally native to Africa, the black-eyed pea was introduced into the West Indies and from there to our Southern United States, where it is still a widely used ingredient in “Soul Food.” Planting crops of black-eyed peas was promoted by George Washington Carver because, as a legume, it adds nitrogen to the soil (plus it grows virtually free of pests and disease!) and for its nutritional value. Black-eyed peas are low in fat, contain no cholesterol, they’re low in sodium, high in potassium, calcium, folate, vitamin A, iron, and fiber and a one-half cup serving of cooked black-eyed peas counts as one ounce of lean meat from the Meat Group of the Food Pyramid Guide.
Honestly, if you have a plate of black-eyed peas on January 1, or any other day, YOU’RE ONE LUCKY SOUL INDEED! EAT UP!!!
