Category Archives: Health/Nutrition

Beefy Burgers and A Food Gal Giveaway

Juicy grilled burgers made from Piedmontese beef.

Nothing says summer backyard gatherings like a great grilled burger.

These are particularly flavorful, made from the Piedmontese breed of cattle, which originated in the foothills of Italy.

Raised on ranges, where they grow up eating grass and are finished on grains, these cows produce meat that is less marbled, and therefore lower in saturated fat and cholesterol. Because of their genetic makeup, the meat doesn’t have the usual stringy fibers of regular beef, making it naturally tender.

Recently, I had a chance to try samples of these burgers from Montana’s Ranch Brand Natural Meats, which contain no antibiotics or growth hormones. The sizable 8-ounce patties are dense, almost just shy of sausage-like in texture. They are very beefy tasty and despite being on the leaner side are quite juicy.

A package of 12 Piedmontese Steak Burgers is $38.54. They are shipped on ice packs to their destination.

They’re just one of many items available via FromtheFarm, a California company that bills itself as an online farmers market. It partners with growers and producers around the country to ship produce, meat, flowers, baked goods and jams directly from the farm to your house.

Through Aug. 27, Food Gal readers can get 10 percent off the purchase of Piedmontese beef. Just use the code: FOODGAL.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a dozen Piedmontese burgers, courtesy of FromtheFarm. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Aug. 18. Winner will be announced Aug. 20.

How to win?

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The Newest in Urban Farming at Ecopia in Campbell

A bounty of lettuces from Ecopia Farms.

Look closely at that bowl of beautiful, baby salad greens.

If only you could reach out and grab a few leaves to taste, you’d be amazed at their sweetness, pepperiness and all-around intensity of flavor.

What makes these lettuces different is that all were grown indoors under LED lights, using a fraction of the water a conventional outdoor farm would.

Ecopia Farms in Campbell is unlike any other agricultural endeavor — housed indoors in a non-descript, out-of-the-way warehouse in Campbell.

Utilizing the latest technology and know-how, it was founded by a couple of tech giants: a former CEO of Solectron, and a former president of Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space.

With water and land increasingly precious commodities, their goal is to create a way of farming that is not only more efficient and sustainable, but replicable in high-density urban areas.

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Granola — In Chip Form, Plus a Food Gal Giveaway

Butter Pecan Granola Chips to munch on.

The folks in Oregon have gone and given granola a new look.

Willamette Valley Granola Company has eschewed the usual clusters for chips instead.

Yes, its new Granola Chips offer the crunch of granola, but in bite-size chips a little larger than a quarter.

They’re made with whole grains, including oats, barley, amaranth and quinoa. The chips get their sweetness from milled cane sugar and barley malt syrup. A 28-gram serving is 110 calories.

There are four varieties: Honey Nut, Vanilla Bean, Butter Pecan, and Wild Berry.

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Full Circle Now Delivers to the Bay Area

A typical small box of produce box from the new Full Circle delivery service.

Once a week for the past couple of weeks, a box just like the one above has landed on my front porch bright and early in the morning.

Besides organic fruits and veggies, its contents have also included this:

Artisan strawberry jam by Inna Jam.

And this:

Organic firm tofu from Oakland's Hodo Soy Beanery.

And this:

Raw milk Italian farmstead cheese.

All thanks to Full Circle, an organic produce delivery service, which started in Carnation, WA, and just launched in the Bay Area.

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The Taste of an Italian Specialty — In A Clif Bar

The new Clif Bar has the taste of a famous Italian confection.

Clif Bar, everyone’s favorite on-the-go, organic, energy recharger, turns 20 this year.

To celebrate that momentous anniversary, the Emeryville company has created a new, limited-edition bar: Gary’s Panforte.

Yes, it’s inspired by the the famous Italian confection of fruits and nuts. Company Founder Gary Erickson decided to create this version in honor of his early cycling adventures over Northern Italy’s Passo di Gavia.

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