Being such a fan of long slow cooked BBQ brisket and an unhealthy appetite for bacon, I can't say I'm the most obvious fan of the raw food movement. However...
Don't get me wrong I like various raw foods and if you overcook most veg I'll take your uncaring knuckles off, but I'm very against food fads and 'cool health trends'.
So when The Living Food Kitchen offered some of their new products to review, my expectations were wary. As it turns out my reservations were put to one side after the first mouthful of hummus: great. I'm wrong again. I'll never live this one down!
Hummus
We all know what hummus tastes like right? Ranging from flavourless slop from the supermarket, to exquisite but familiar tastes from local expert street carts, the first thing that hit me about this trio even before trying them was the colour! Both my wife and myself agreed we weren't expecting such fresh tastes, as it turns out raw IS good. If you've got some nice fresh bread, some Comté and charcuterie then it makes a great accompaniment.
No additives here, in fact such a short list of ingredients had my interest piqued, but on further reading things like pea shoots made me double take. This isn't hummus as we know it, but it turns out I now want this instead of that old stuff from this point onwards.
Pesto
The hemp pesto was perfect one evening when we'd run out of inspiration and ideas, thankfully I'd had the foresight to get some fresh pasta in just in case, so out came the pot of pesto. Quite a lot in the pot, it'd do 4 people's meal for sure, but this pic is our 2 person's worth, good and strong and loads of earthy taste. Lovely.
Almond Shakes
Waking up at the moment I've been craving breakfast, and although I'm far too sleepy to start making anything half decent, having the smoothies in the fridge made sense. I know I should get myself together and actually make smoothies, but there's a whole bunch of stuff in these which I now don't have to bother getting myself. I did wish the bottles were bigger but perhaps that's my appetite.
The flavours were good, I especially liked the Cacao and Cherry one, and high praise for the Blueberry and Acai one came from my wife. They're a hit but we're gonna need to buy them in bulk! Good as an easy treat though, and nice to know I wasn't filling myself with fatty breakfast stuff (I'll save that for weekends)
Flapjacks
What do you keep in the house for those moments of hunger? I certainly try to stick to meal times but can't help snacking now and then. These bars fitted in well, the flavours were interesting and certainly something different to the normal dry things some people serve. As mentioned above I wasn't convinced by the concept till I tried it, now the other bars we have in the cupboard are boring and manufactured tasting. Can't quite put my finger on it but they just don't taste as yummy.
The Living Food Kitchen is about wholesome, natural, living food. Pure and simple. Loving what we eat is essential to feeling good - and we hope that our honest, unprocessed, delicius food helps to nourish and sustain you.
So, in summary, thank you to The Living Food Kitchen for sending me these to review, you've successfully changed my opinion, and I'm happier for it to be so. Surprise on me!
More information here: http://www.thelivingfoodkitchen.com
