Simons: Broccoli sprouts return

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Colorado-grown BroccoSprouts are back in produce bins after a three-month hiatus, thanks to Friends Fields in Arvada.

Colorado's only official BroccoSprouts grower closed at the beginning of the winter. Since then, our supply has come from California.

Then Friends Fields owners Pat Duffus and Margy Dalpes stepped up to the salad plate, adding the 3-day-old baby broccoli plants to their line of fresh produce.

It took a while for them to master the BroccoSprouts patented production process, however. The sprouts are grown hydroponically under strict sanitary conditions and inspected to ensure that they don't have anything nasty in them such as E. coli or salmonella, and that they do have good stuff in them, such as high antioxidant levels.

Marketing spokesman Jim Licko says the new Colorado agricultural product is more versatile than people realize. It's sold in five varieties: 100 percent BroccoSprouts; Sandwich Blend (broccoli and clover sprouts); Salad Blend (broccoli, clover and radish sprouts); Deli Blend (broccoli, clover and mustard sprouts); and Brocco Alfalfa Sprout Blend.

"We're trying to get people to open their minds and think about different ways to use them," Licko says. "I've actually put them in soups, spaghetti sauces and pizza and they taste really good - a lot different than broccoli."

BroccoSprouts range for $3 to $4 a pound at Whole Foods, Wild Oats and Wal-Mart Supercenters. For more information, go to broccosprouts.com.

• Cyndy Wood spent the summer trying out new flavors for Palmer Lake-based Villa Pasta Co., and discovered she had a hit in Whole Wheat Garlic hand-cut fettucine.

"This is our first whole-wheat pasta, and when we added garlic I got a lot of good feedback," she said.

Whole Wheat Garlic joins other Villa Pasta flavors including Garden Herb, Lemon Dill, Rosemary Garlic and Green Chile fettucine.

Villa Pasta sells for $3.50 to $5.75 for a 12-ounce bag at selected specialty food shops and Vitamin Cottage, Wild Oats and Whole Foods stores. Wood also plans to bring her products to the downtown Littleton farmers' market this summer. For more information, go to villapastacompany.com or call 888-ME-PASTA.

• Fans of the Food Network's Iron Chef might want to visit the Lakewood version of the competition. Whole Foods employees will be competing at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Belmar Whole Foods Market, 444 S. Wadsworth Blvd., 303-935-5000. It's free.

Do you have a tip on a new grocery product or trend? Contact Janet Simons at simonsj@RockyMountainNews.com, 303-954-2547.