NEW Takes on Old Favorites: Part 2 – Fruits, Nuts, Veggies, and Meat

Tytanium’s NEW takes on old favorites continues! What’s up in Part 2? Fruits, Nuts, Veggies, and Meat. Read on, friends!

Fruit: The New Fruits on the Block

A whole slew of new fruits – and fruit faves presented in new ways – have arrived in Spartan 300 force, prepped to run rampant on every market aisle. Dried fruits made a stellar showing, of course – especially Taylor Brother’s Prunes. But what else?

First and foremost, those Dang chips! Dang Food’s insanely addictive toasted coconut chips may not have been the first, and definitely won’t be the last, snackable take on this coconut craze. But I 100% subjectively guarantee they’re the best.

NEW 2014 was a freeze-dried party! Amongst Crunchie’sFunky Monkey, and Just Tomatoes, nearly any fruit you could ever dream up is available in fantastically flavor-dense, almost malt-like, melt-on-your-tongue freeze-dried form. You can’t eat just one, I assure you.

Big Slice Apples really got their feet wet this year with a complete re-design of the entire line, adding on-the-go snackable, standing pouches filled with chunks of apples delightfully dipped in just-the-right amount of sauces and complementary spices.

Nuts: Everything from Superfruits to Nuts

James A. Garfield once said, “Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter.” The NEW world of nut butter would beg to disagree – peanut butter alone just won’t cut it!

YumButter amps up peanut and almond butter, adding fun spices for flavor-packed spreads and implementing a “buy one, feed one” program to fight malnutrition in developing countries – what a nut butter win.

Go Nuttzo! Nuttzo butters blend 7 nuts and seeds into delicious, heart-healthy combos. Feeling more adventurous? Go for Jem’s raw sprouted almond or hazelnut spread with flavors like raw cacao, maqui camu, or coconut cardamom.

Chocoholics, listen up! Satisfy your sweet tooth with PB Crave’s peanut butter with chocolate chunks and banana or raspberry flavoring. Or skip the traditional Nutella for a new American take – Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter, Go Lo’s dark chocolate hazelnut spread, or abandon the spreads and spring for a bar of TCHO’s TCHunky TCHOtella.

Nut allergies are a growing concern in schools, with many districts outlawing nut butter of any kind in all areas of the school. So what’s a peanut butter-loving little one to do? Don’t Go Nuts! Stock up on perfectly toasted, mouth-water, incredibly PB-Esque soy butter. Wow Butter is another stellar soy butter option, ensuring PB&Js and Fluffernutters stay a childhood staple.

Vegetables: Veg Galore!

Houston, we have some serious veg. The vegetable-based product sector is expanding at a million miles a minute, accelerating at the speed of light in pickles and chips. What veggies are ready for blast off?

Pickle Me This

Veg is hitting the pickling bottle – hard. Left and right the age-old tradition of pickling everything from cabbage to cauliflower is becoming cool once again. For a huge variety in jarred veggies, check out Rick’s Picks. More of a kraut connoisseur? Pickled Planet’s tried and true sauerkraut is literally life-changing. For the kimchi craving, go straight to Mother in Law’s kimchi.

Bonus: Try any and all atop one of Health ‘n Spice’s savory lentil waffles. You’ll thank me later.

A Chip off the Old Kale Block

Kale chips. They’re the ultimate superfood, the only leafy green I know with a cult-status-like following. And they’re here to stay. But what about all the other ultra-healthy veg? Those guys – the onions, tomatoes, zucchinis – are taking a hint, getting baked or dehydrated and crafted into seriously snackable bites. Just Pure Foods’ whole line is delectable; the pesto tomato chips are now on my Top 20 foods I could never live without.

Brad’s Raw Chips expanded from just kale into veg chips, crackers, and even onion rings. If you insist on traditional kale chips, go for Veggie Evolution – wonderfully crunchy, incredibly fresh, and they don’t crumble to pieces at the first bite, like so many of their brethren.

Meat: To Meat or Not To Meat

That is the question. Thankfully, you can’t lose! Between the newest players in vegetarian and vegan meat substitutes and the growing sustainable meat industry, either answer results in stellar culinary fare.

Fake It ‘Til You Make It

The age-old adage has come to fruition for the plethora of vegetarian makers striving for years on end to create a perfect, totally vegetarian replacement for animal protein. Finally, the vegetarians’ time to enjoy un-meat passable as real meat has come! Behold: Beyond Meat.

Their beef-free spicy crumbles smothered in cheese sauce and jalapenos and so gloriously bestowed upon me from the 100% meatless Beyond Meat food truck was the most satisfyingly carnivorous experience I had all weekend. Meat-taculous!

Neat, a nut-based, gluten-free make-your-own meat mix is a tad more laborious but taste- and texture-wise deserves gold-medal standings alongside Beyond Meat.

What food trend do most omnivores feel vegetarians and vegans are missing out on? Bacon, bacon, and more bacon. No more! Phoney Baloney’s vegan coconut bacon has vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike flocking to the market for bags of their crispy, smoky, salty, guilt-free, new pantry staple.

The Other Real Meat

Meat lovers, don’t dismay! Real meat, meat accompaniments, cured meat and jerky all came out in full force.

Frontiere Natural Meats filled the halls with aromas of their all natural bison, angus beef, and grass fed beef. The perfect seasonings and sauces? California Rancher company has it all. Add A’Fire’s salt planks, charcoal, wood planks, smoker chips, and rubs and the perfect barbecue is in store.

For daintier dinner parties, get Alef Sausage’s array of tried and true cured meats. Seek out Olli Salumeria for family-owned, sustainably-raised, all-around, everybody’s-happy pork products with a dynamite taste! Olli’s Organic Molisana Pepper + Garlic Salame is always a win.

On-the-go products are huge – and meat is no exception. What’s NEW is anything but Slim Jim-status rubbery sticks in fickle packaging. True Gentlemen Jerky adds a touch of class to the entire jerky-eating experience. Refined flavors, clean packaging, and a small pack of floss in every pouch help you proactively avoid those awkward jerky-stuck-in-your-teeth social situations – genius.

The New Primal understands sometimes you need more than just meat. They combine delicious, flavor-forward grass-fed beef jerky with nuts and dried fruit for a take-anywhere, incredibly high protein snack. And Krave, of course, is perpetually pumping out creative flavors like Black Cherry Barbecue Pork to keep your jerky-eating experiences exciting.

What’s Next for NEW Trends?

That’s all on the fruit, nut, veg, and meat front for now, folks! We’ve gone through loads of the tops picks, so take your faves, snag a few, and make it into a grand gathering! Oh, what’s that? There’s something missing before you can gather your best buds for a night of eatertainment? Good thing the drinks and snack DL is coming up next! So get ready, get excited for Part 3 – Soda, Juice, and Bars.

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