Next time you shop at Whole Foods, I recommend adding to your shopping list some new heat-at-home products from Cafe Spice and Mikey’s, both of which I accepted offers to try.
Cafe Spice
Cafe Spice originated as an Indian restaurant in New York City. In the prepared foods area of Whole Foods (by the salads), including the one in Madison, you can find chicken tikka masala with saffron rice, channa masala with lemon rice, butter chicken meatballs with saffron rice and chicken curry lemon rice. Each retails for $7.99.
I’m typically skeptical of microwaveable meals, but the ones from Cafe Spice are incredibly delicious and certainly take your taste buds on an adventure. The sauces for the chicken tikka masala and butter chicken meatballs are similar. They’re both creamy and well-seasoned, with the only difference being the former is a little lighter from its use of low-fat yogurt.
The chicken, which was humanely raised with no antibiotics, was tender and soaked up the flavor of the sauce. Meanwhile, you can savor the various spices, including coriander and tumeric, in the butter chicken meatballs, which also were tender and scrumptious. My only complaint was that you only get three meatballs. Also, despite both entrees being categorized as medium spicy, neither was spicy at all.
The flavor of the chicken curry reminded me of many goat curry dishes I’ve enjoyed in the past. I used quite a bit of the lemon rice to soak up the curry sauce, in fact (the rice is not that lemon-y). The gluten-free channa masala sits in a somewhat similar sauce that is more onion-based than tomato-based, and the lemon rice contains red chili peppers for some heat. I found the chickpeas to be quite filling, and it’s worth noting this vegetarian dish boasts 13 g. of protein.
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Mikey’s
Mikey’s specializes in making products that are free from gluten, grain, soy and dairy. I was invited to try the grain-free tortillas ($5.99), but they were not carried or in-stock at our local Whole Foods during several visits over a two-month period. In the coolers of the bakery area, you will find Mikey’s English muffins, cinnamon raisin muffins and toasted onion muffins, each of which retails for $6.99.
Heating up the frozen muffins requires using a toaster oven or oven–no toasters allowed. Each has 180 calories, 6 g. of carbs and 9 g. of protein, and the muffins are Keto-friendly and Paleo-friendly. That’s because they use almond flour and coconut flour (thus, the muffins are not for people with nut allergies).
“The initial idea was to provide gluten-free consumers products that do not require any compromise made with a few simple, high-quality ingredients that deliver dense nutrition and great taste,” Mikey’s Founder Michael Tierney said in a statement. “Mikey’s ingredients are an important part of who we are and what they stand for. We strongly believe that superior taste comes from high-quality ingredients and that no one, regardless of allergies or dietary restrictions, should ever be forced to compromise on nutrition or taste.”
After you take your first bite, in which you get used to the crumbly texture, you realize that Mikey’s did a commendable job of recreating the English muffin. And like any English muffin, you’re going to top it with butter, jam, etc. The onion version had the flavor of an onion bagel: the onion was there but not overpowering. I ate one with butter and another in a ham and egg sandwich, and both made for excellent breakfast meals.
Mikey’s also makes its own version of Hot Pockets, including pepperoni pizza and egg & cheese, as well as pizza crusts. The aforementioned tortillas come in several flavors such as golden tumeric and sweets & beets.
Tags: Indian
