Whole Foods Fills the Refrigerator

My house is filled with the delicious aroma of vegetables roasting. If I can remember how, I’ll show you a picture of them. This is a combination of eggplant (my favorite vegetable for roasting), snap peas, carrots, onions, and the real treasure: golden beets. Yummy! And you’re asking, “Where did you find golden beets, Stirring the Pot?” Well...

My friend Hilde and I made a trip to the Whole Foods superstore on Milwaukee’s east side today. In addition to all those beautiful, organic vegetables that I’m roasting, have I got food to cook! I am going to be actually “cooking on Donmar” for quite a while.

I’d been to Whole Foods in Madison and in Charlottesville, VA, where one of my daughters shops. But neither of those stores compares to Milwaukee’s in size. Hilde and I were there for over three hours, scoping out the healthy stuff.

This massive store makes up the first floor of Columbia/St Mary’s office building. With free parking in an underground garage, it is very convenient. Hilde and I began our morning adventure admiring the bakery department. This led to a pre-shopping tasting in the in-store coffee shop and some shared pastries. I would highly recommend the spinach and feta stuffed croissants, and they make a mighty fine dark chocolate mocha.

Next we perused the cheese selection, which rivals Sendik’s on Capital Dr in Brookfield – and that’s saying a lot. Whole Foods had 5 different cheeses from Carr Valley, plus the award-winning Pleasant Ridge cheese, and one of my favorites - Drunken Goat cheese. I also picked up a stilton with lemon peel, which turned out to be a lovely new flavor combination for me.

Next we visited the olive bars. There were two of them, with perhaps 20 or more types and combinations of olives and other pickled delights. Be sure to pick up some of the pickled sun-dried tomatoes and the garlic-stuffed green olives and the Kalamata and feta cheese combo.

I could go on and on, describing the deli and the produce and the beautifully displayed fresh fish counter and all the aisles and aisles of organic canned and packaged goods and the flowers and ... Go and see for yourself.

Tonight I will roast some garlic and herb coated haddock filets, serve them with some of the roasted vegetables, slices of garlic and olive oil Italian bread and a fresh watermelon I cut up, all from Whole Foods. Other meals this weekend will include a roasted chicken breast stuffed with cheddar and broccoli and some of Whole Foods own crab cakes on Sunday, risking the wrath of The Man Who Only Eats Red Meat Happily. I’m assuming he may eat haddock, as he will eat cod, though usually only if it’s deep fried and beer battered. And I can feed him crab cakes on a rare occasion, hidden beneath a remoulade sauce (which I also bought at Whole Foods). I know he'll be pleased with our weekend lunches of tomato basil soup from WF’s deli and produce section and the chicken pot pie from WF's deli.

As there is already a whole (cut up) lamb in my freezer, plus some locally raised buffalo and beef, either I must stop grocery shopping or you all had better come over for dinner soon. The table is set...

Stirring the Pot