Eat Smart Innovates with Pre-Cooked Vegetables in their Superfood Salad Kits

Eat Smart is bringing something new to the salad kit category in North America. Apio, a wholly owned subsidiary of Landec Corporation and a national producer of fresh-cut vegetable products, has launched two Eat Smart Gourmet Vegetable Salad Kits as part of their superfood product line. The Beets & Greens Salad and Roasted Yam Salad offer a gourmet taste with a complex and unique blend of nutrient-rich ingredients in a convenient format, say company officials. The kits are designed so that all ingredients are pre-cut, pre-washed and pre-measured. “It’s no secret that consumers are interested in fresh and healthy eating, but they often don’t have the time to prepare gourmet dishes from scratch,” says Anne Byerly, Apio’s vice president of marketing. “The Beets & Greens and the Roasted Yam salad kits include everything required to prepare and serve an appealing, restaurant-caliber salad that is highly nutritious. Both are gluten-free, and both can be served either warm or cold. To serve warm, consumers simply snip the corner of the packet to vent the bag, heat the beets or yams briefly in the microwave and add to the salad." Containing six superfoods, the Beets & Greens Vegetable Salad Kit is a blend of kale, beet greens, red chard, red cabbage and broccoli, plus perfectly cooked beets, golden raisins, and feta cheese that create a rich flavored salad with naturally occurring sweetness. A proprietary white wine vinaigrette provides a light and refreshing pairing to allow the flavors of the vegetables to come to life, company officials add. Beet lovers are well aware of the how difficult and time consuming it is to roast beets in the home. Cutting and cleaning the beets is a messy chore and the cooking takes quite a long time. Many consumers restrict their enjoyment of beets to dining out opportunities rather than enduring the inconvenience of home preparation. Eat Smart has made it convenient for consumers to enjoy a beet salad in the comfort of their home by creating pre-cooked, pre-cut beets that are packaged for freshness. The Roasted Yam Salad contains eight superfoods, combining Apio’s roasted yam recipe with bright dried currants and cranberries, kale, red and green cabbage, Brussels sprouts and a crunchy blend of dried sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Company officials add that all the ingredients are accented with a preservative-free, classic vinaigrette developed exclusively for Eat Smart. “The Beets & Greens and Roasted Yam Vegetable Salad Kits bring even more variety and on trend ingredients to our Gourmet Selections line,” says Byerly. “Their nutrient-dense appeal and rich flavors provide delicious and distinctive salads that complement lunch or dinner. Add their convenience and value, and they’re sure to spur consumers to come back for more.” Both salads are available in 10- and 21-ounce bags at selected retailers in the U.S. and Canada.