Were you on the Gluten-Free train when it first became popular? If so, we’re sorry. Most early adopters of gluten-free products had to put up with an array of chalky, gloopy and downright disgusting gluten-free alternatives. Some of these were so unappetizing that it had many of those flirting with a gluten-free lifestyle heading for the hills and never looking back. Our chefs at Caesar’s had tasted their fair share of gluten-free pasta disasters and vowed to never produce a gluten-free meal unless they tasted as good or better than our beloved wheat-filled noodles. So we set out to experimenting with a personal passion, as many of our family members are gluten-intolerant.

First, we sourced wheat-flour alternatives from every corner of the globe, took all of the ingredients into the kitchen and got to cooking. Some of the gluten-free pastas you may have tried include:

• Corn flour
• Quinoa flour
• Arrowroot powder
• Brown rice flour
• Potato starch
• Tapioca flour
• Coconut or almond flour

When it comes to gluten-free pastas, they usually fall into one of two categories: “single origin” or “mixed starch” – not the catchiest of names, but we’ll take what we can get. The problem with single origin pastas is that they lack the nuance of mixed starch pastas. Rice flour pasta can get slimy if cooked even a minute too long, or stay too hard if undercooked (we think of them as the avocados of the pasta world). Straight corn pastas can take on too much corn flavor and overpower a dish, and no one wants a corny pasta (aaaaand…we’ve met our dad joke quota for this post). Other types can become gritty, flavorless or downright flabby. We weren’t prepared to accept any of these outcomes, so we got to mixing. After a lot of trial and error, we came upon a few noodle recipes that gave us the bite of your favorite mac and cheese, the bounce of springy pasta salad noodle and the perfect flavor to compliment the ingredients in our Caesar’s Kitchen entrees.

What did we do? For our entrees like the Gluten Free Beef and 3 Cheese Bolognese or Gluten Free Buffalo Style Chicken Mac & Cheese, we used a combination of rice flour, corn flours, tapioca and potato starches to create noodles that have a flavor and texture indistinguishable from the noodles you grew up with. We’d love to give you the recipe, but the lawyers wouldn’t let us. For our Potato Gnocchi, we mixed in rice flour with potato to create a fluffy, chewy gnocchi nugget that pairs like a dream with your favorite pesto or alfredo sauce.

We’d like to formally invite you to a place you never thought possible, a world where gluten-free and delicious live together in harmony. It took years of hard work and a frankly disturbing increase to our research budget, but we feel strongly that we’ve changed the game here.  At Caesar’s Kitchen, we believe that you shouldn’t have to choose between your health and your taste buds.

If you’re anything like us, every time you pass the produce aisle you can hear the voice of your mother behind you, quietly reminding you to eat your vegetables. If you’re a dutiful child, you may even pick up a box of mixed greens and a token head of broccoli to tote home, where it will sit in your fridge until the box of greens develops its own ecosystem and the broccoli fills your kitchen with off-gas funk. Best case scenario, you manage a salad or a stir fry before the whole veggie operation turns into a rotting mess.

So how are you supposed to fill out the bottom of the food pyramid without letting your veggies rot, one slimy handful of spinach at a time? Good news: a study out of the UK has shown that veggies frozen right when they are picked retain their nutrients longer than those you see sitting in your grocery store.

Vegetables that are picked and frozen the same day can retain up to 45% more nutrients than the ones you find in the produce section. What does this mean for you? Many Caesar’s Kitchen entrees are chock full of tasty and good for you veggies that could have a leg up on even your finest Farmer’s Market fare. For example, the fresh spring peas in our Spring Snap Pea Reginetti may contain 45% more Vitamin C than the snap peas you see piled in the plastic product tub under neon lights.

At Caesar’s Kitchen, we work with our farmers to ensure our veggies are harvested and frozen using methods that help each morsel retain quality, nutrients and flavor. Turns out your frozen meal not only makes your stomach happy, it might even satisfy that maternal voice telling you to eat your vegetables.  

Looking for a meal option that not only tastes great but can help you check off the “I didn’t eat total garbage today” box? Here are some of our favorite veg-packed meals comin’ out of Caesar’s Kitchen:

• Gluten-Free Vegetable Lasagna: This savory selection trades in the meat for a filling combo of spinach, carrots, broccoli and mushrooms
• Organic Tuscan Style Ravioli: Never warmed to the taste of things that are good for you? We’ve got you covered. This blend of spinach, mushrooms and tomato combined with four kinds of cheese will have your taste buds dancing
• Spring Snap Pea Reginetti Pasta: This is the Holy Grail of our veggie lineup. Eaten warm or eaten cold, this is a spring buffet of good-and-good-for-you options including bell peppers, leeks, green beans, and snap peas

Source: Why Frozen Veggies Are Fresher than Fresh. Daily Mail – UK. 3.05.10.