The Mediterranean Diet was once again ranked as one of the World’s healthiest and most sustainable. Keeping that in mind, I ventured to the market inspired by products that reminded me of some tenets of this hallmark diet.

Jeni’s Frose Ice Cream: Red Wine

Frosé is a new-ish term that seems to be popping up everywhere! At a baseball game, I recently saw it being offered (and much to my dismay, it was sold out).

As red wine is an allowable indulgence on the Mediterranean diet, I took creative license to add this to my shopping cart. My goodness, it was DELISH! Lots of watermelon notes, with rosé notes up front. My colleague Elaine enjoyed as well!

Forager Just Greens Chips: Leafy Greens

Nutritionists are always telling us to ‘eat our greens’. Leafy greens are LOADED with vitamins and a cornerstone of most every diet out there today. Whether you saute, juice, grill or simply enjoy them raw, greens are here to stay. I was very excited to see these leafy greens chips. While they aren’t entirely green, and have some ancient grains in them, they do have quite a bit of spinach content!

Taste wise, these hit the mark! I could definitely enjoy them with some delicious guac or salsa on a summer evening! These will definitely be a repeat purchase in my book.

Saffron Road Crunchy Chickpeas: Dark Chocolate

Chocolate might be one of my favorite things EVER. Living without chocolate in my mind is a travesty – it is SO delicious and decadent, and I love seeing all the new products and innovations coming out in the chocolate confection space. Dark chocolate is also an allowable treat on the Mediterranean diet – um…DUH! (joking). I had not, however, tried dark chocolate on chickpeas. There does seem to be a trend going with dessert hummus, so I was very interested to see how these flavors mixed together.

The result: interesting. I can’t say it’s my favorite combo, but a more enjoyable way to enjoy a plain chickpea for sure. For right now, I personally prefer savory chickpeas. However, a great idea, and I expect to see a lot more variety in the future in regards to dessert + chickpeas.

Healthy Avolov Avocado Chips: Chili and Lime

Article after article comes out about the amazing-ness of avocados. They are similar to leafy greens in their status as a super food. Now that ‘fat’ has been recognized as good to most, avocados are having a heyday. That said, it is hard to enjoy them when they are just perfect – ever had an over-ripe, brown, mushy avocado? Or a rock hard avocado that you can barely get open, but there is no way you are going to extract the large pit?

Well, I was walking down the grocery aisle and spotted these snacks. Wait, a shelf stable avocado chip? Had my dilemma been solved? I had my colleague Allison try them:

I think we all could applaud Avolov from trying to make this miracle fruit/veg more accessible. Perhaps we weren’t the right consumer? I think the product could best be described as ‘interesting’ and we can’t wait to try more of their products.

Graze Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookie

I LOVED this idea as soon as I saw it on the shelf. Nuts in a salted caramel chocolate cookie form? Yes, please! As nuts are a trademark of the Mediterranean diet, I took creative license to include it in this themed post, and try this deliciousness. Overall, this product reminded me of a yogurt with the inclusions (flip, mix-in, whatever you call it) without the yogurt. When eating them all together, it definitely reminded me of a cookie, which is quite amazing. Everyone who tasted it with me had a favorite piece, as this was a mix of about 5 different items. I love where Graze is taking their product, and making it more accessible as something that could be defined as a treat or a healthier snack.

Till our next flavorful post, happy shopping (and eating!)

-Mary