You may have noticed I’ve been on a bit of a raw food kick lately. It started with Natural Products Expo West, when I discovered how delicious kale chips are, after which I went to the Raw Living Vegan Bazaar to eat more kale chips, where I discovered Better Life Cuisine. When I reviewed that restaurant, reader M recommended SunPower Natural Cafe, where after enjoying a Raw Supreme Pizza, I thought — If I like raw food this much, why not try eating raw for a month?
Why I tend to automatically think up challenges for myself that last a whole month, I don’t know, but the more practical side of me kicked in — so I ended up eating raw just for a weekend. During it, I decided to make fair trade pineapple salsa and organic guacamole — which meant I needed raw chips to go with the dips!
So I stopped by Co-opportunity — which has an entire aisle AND a refrigerated section devoted to raw foods. After much deliberation, I settled on Leaf Organics flax seed crackers.
Verdict: I wish I’d walked over to Better Life cuisine and gotten their crunchier crackers, which I loved. Leaf Organics crackers were not made for dipping; they often broke and crumbled apart when I tried to scoop up some salsa or guacamole. The crackers — $7.99 for a 6-ounce bag — tasted okay, but were really best eaten alone, since they’re already flavored with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and other herbs and spices flavoring. Even alone, however, I found the crackers a bit disappointing, since they just don’t have the crisp crackliness I expect from crackers — and were too-heavily flavored with too many different tastes.
I love love that Leaf’s local, organic, and healthy, but perhaps Leaf’s recipes just aren’t for me. I wasn’t a big fan of the Leaf Cuisine restaurants, which have since closed. In fact, Leaf Cuisine’s kale wraps made me hate raw kale for a little while — though now I love those leafy greens again, thanks to SunPower Natural Cafe and Rawk-n-Roll.
I’m curious: Are there any Leaf Organics fans out there? Do you still buy the Leaf products in stores, now that the restaurants are closed? And if so, what do you recommend?
i haven’t tried leaf organic’s version but i do enjoy the flackers by dr. in the kitchen
The Actors Diet´s last blog ..Christy – Dinner at Lynn’s
Comment by The Actors Diet — April 8, 2010 @ 8:31 am
Kale chips out of a packet are never going to be as good as freshly made ones, no matter who makes them. They slowly get soggier over time. I do still occasionally buy Leaf’s raw cheesecakes, though the ones from Earth Cafe are better. (You should get yourself a small dehydrator; Kale chips are so easy & cheap to make.)
Comment by Linda — April 8, 2010 @ 9:29 am
that is so sad! I had no idea the Leaf Cuisine in Culver City closed– it was one of my top five restaurants in LA. I was a huge fan of their gazpacho, Hale Kale Salad, and Wakame Seaweed Salad. What a bummer.
Instead of the Flax Seed Chips, try the Corn Chips. They taste amazing. I’d recommend keeping them in your fridge so that they stay fresh and are a bit thicker but I warn you: they get stuck in your teeth quite a bit and are also too thin and delicate for adequate dipping. They are well worth it though.
And yes, I sometimes buy the kale salad from Leaf that they sell at Whole Foods, but I usually adulterate it with more avocado, tomato, and lemon juice when I get home.
Comment by jessie — April 8, 2010 @ 12:40 pm
I’ll look for flackers — and the Leaf corn chips in the future — Thanks for the tips, ladies!
Linda – Just to make sure there’s no confusion — I love kale chips in general — even out of a bag! It’s Leaf’s FLAX SEED chips I didn’t like so much.
Comment by Siel — April 14, 2010 @ 2:30 pm