Over the weekend, I made my weekly trek to Trader Joe’s, withstanding the crowds and fifty-plus person checkout lines for those can’t be beaten prices. I’m a dedicated bargain hunter, clearly.
The concept of heading to TJ’s and leisurely browsing is entirely foreign to me. I can’t enter those doors without a detailed list and a specific mission. I know exactly where the goods I need live, and I pick up most of them while standing in the line that snakes around the outer aisles. I think the Union Square store gives new meaning to that health adage of “shopping the perimeter.”
This week, one of the items on my list was coconut milk. Sure, in an ideal world I would buy fresh young coconuts whenever I desired, but with hefty price tags, not to mention the involved task of cracking one open, sometimes you’ve got to go with the easy, shelf-stable kind. I’ll be the first to admit that I am imperfect in eating 100% fresh foods.
At TJ’s, I asked a Hawaiian-clothed employee where I could find a coconut can. I ditched the line for a moment, and I came upon this:
why, trader joe? why?
The only option: light coconut milk.
This gets me in the same way that Better ‘N Peanut Butter and Slimcados do. Why mess with a perfectly natural thing? And worse, why offer only the fake version?
What’s a purist to do? I didn’t want to have to go to a third grocery store [I had already done my produce run just before]. I really wanted to make some coconut rice this week. The ingredients were fine [just coconut milk and water, so I suppose it was made "light" as a result of being diluted].
So I bought it. I put it on my pantry shelf, and every time I have opened that door this week, it has annoyed me.
a complete meal: veganomicon tamarind lentils+swiss chard, coconut kasha, steamed asparagus [$1.99/lb - spring must be on its way!]
I know it’s a far-fetched dream to live in a society [especially this country] that is free of all diet products. But still, I can’t help but feel frustration for those of us who freely enjoy real, unadulterated food, as we are constantly plagued by watered down, light versions of foods that are perfectly fine as they are.
I never ate much in the way of diet products. The few fake replacements I did at one point choose are long gone from my life – Splenda, earth balance, egg whites, for instance. I happily choose natural sweeteners and basic, organic butter when the need arises.
I still got my coconut rice, but my faith in Trader Joe’s is just a little bit shaken.
coconut-pistachio kasha [for one]
- 1/4 c uncooked kasha
- 1/2 c coconut milk
- 1/4 c water
- 1/4 t coriander
- 1/8 t ground cardamom
- 2 T raisins
- 1 t lemon zest
- 1 T unshelled, unsalted pistachios
Bring coconut milk and water to a boil in small saucepan. Add kasha, coriander, cardamom, and raisins. Return to a boil; lower heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and pistachios.
Light milk or not, this meal took me away to a sweet and savory world of Asian taste. There is something so wonderful about traveling through flavor, about bringing another culture into your life through the plate in front of you.
Although, I have to say, had I made this in India, I can guarantee light coconut milk would never have been an option. I suppose that next time, I’ll simply have to crack open a real coconut myself.
Were you ever an aficionado of “light” products? How do you feel about them now?
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Light coconut milk is not artificial, it’s just been pressed a third time to lighter fluid which is better for stewing meats or for certain types of curries. I think that is different than the slimcado, which just seems silly for me. I am an unabashed lover of all nut butters, coconut oil, avocado, etc. but I do like Better n Peanut Butter. NOT as a replacement for peanut butter, but for a different kind of spread. It tastes like caramel peanut butter and I like it to top my desserts sometimes. It’s like comparing butter and cream cheese, one does not replace the other. Better n Peanut butter does not replace the real thing for me. I think it’s a different story when people buy Better n because they are afraid of the fats in nut butters, which I am definitely not!
This is an interesting perspective – I’ve actually heard it from several people before, that they simply use “light” products as an addition, rather than an alternative. For me, the fact remains that if that was the product’s purpose, it would have a different name – not Better n PB, but “peanut spread,” perhaps. However you choose to use it, it’s still marketed as a diet product. Like you said, light coconut milk isn’t artificial (I wouldn’t have bought it otherwise), but it did have taglines all over the front about the lower calorie and fat content. That’s the part that gets me, that we live in a society that supports that mode of thinking.
love that kasha recipe, i must make this! i feel very similarly to you with lite products, although i am guilty of always getting lite coconut milk..i never thought about it at all…i don’t even know why i get it? i would NEVER get like that pb2 stuff or better n PB or w/e…but for some reason i never gave my purchasing of lite coconut milk, i really should give the normal stuff a try lol..makes no sense i am so silly, i eat coconut butter, coconut ice cream, coconut flakes, why not the real coconut milk! ;P …
xx
Eliza
I actually love Better ‘n’ PB- not as a nut butter substitute but it is tasty. I have a mixed bag of lite/non-lite products…gone are the days when I buy flavoured yogurts after years of Light ‘n’ Fit/equivalents, or fat free cheese. But I buy a lot of non-fat dairy, light soy milk, etc. Though those things are literally skimmed/diluted, rather than key components being taken out and substituted with chemicals. I feel strange buying products that scream, “DIET” on them!
every once in awhile, the ugly (or stupid) part of my brain makes me buy low-carb wraps. then i get sad when i remember how chewy and gross they can be. otherwise i try to avoid “lite” products, although i was a fan years back – low carb bread, light earth balance, low-carb tofu noodles (these are nasty), lite tofu — everything and anything that i could get my hands on. then i realized that i’d rather enjoy food and be a few pounds heavier. and i have no regrets! :)
oh, and just a rant: that PB2 stuff i’ve seen around blogland looks absolutely disgusting. bring on the full-fat, real peanut/ nut butters, puh-leez.
Oh, Trader Joe’s. I always go with a list, then stray… and stray… and soon, I’m loaded with 50 pounds of groceries and a gaping hole in my bank account. Sad. I haven’t been in a few months.
I actually really like light coconut milk! With the exception of the occasional can of Cream of Coconut, that’s pretty much all I had growing up.
I don’t think I have ever cooked with pistachios – your dish looks great!
I used to be the queen of lite products, and they were all terrible:
-Lean Cuisines
-Diet Cokes
-Splenda
-Fat Free Dannon and Yoplait Yogurts
I still enjoy frozen yogurt and lighter ice cream, but other than that…I strive for the real deal. Usually whenever anything is “lite’ it’s heavy in some other unsavory nutritional element, like sugar.
Don’t let the Union Square Trader Joes deter you! The TJ’s in Brooklyn on Court Street is infinitely better. I would shop there all the time if it weren’t such a schlepp from my apartment.
I’m all for lowfat dairy, but I do think we’re getting a little ridiculous with the “lite” thing. Especially because you can just add water to regular coconut milk and get “lite.” When you think about that, it’s ridiculous that they would sell the two for the same price. Great post; it’s a topic that people choose to ignore far too often.