Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Healthy Heart Market Pickles - Dill and Bread & Butter

Healthy Heart Market NSA Pickles
The craving for pickles can get pretty strong. Unfortunately, salty canned or fermented pickles are not an option for those following a low sodium regimen. I’ve written about my pickle adventures in the past. My tale of searching for pickles is a perfect example of the highs and lows of low sodium living.

When we first started out on this loso adventure, I ordered NSA dills, sweet pickle relish, sweet red peppers, and even lower sodium sauerkraut from B & G. Then, they stopped making them. For a while Healthy Heart Market was offering dills, but then they discontinued the product. I played around with Vlasic Reduced Sodium and Rick’s Picks but was not impressed. I was ready to give up.Then I discovered Delicious Concepts. Their dills were good, and my husband especially enjoyed their NSA cornichons. But, they stopped producing the cornichons and eventually went out of business.

Meanwhile, Healthy Heart Market started producing NSA dill pickles again – regular dills and spicy hot dills. Recently, however, they’ve added Bread & Butter Pickle Chips to their offerings. My husband enjoys the regular dills. They come whole, so they can be cut per individual preferences. I usually leave them whole for my husband and serve as a side to a sandwich lunch. But they’re easy to slice lengthwise for long sandwich stackers or to quarter for spears. Cutting up dill pickle chips is a cinch as is chopping them for tartar sauce, tuna salad, etc.

Healthy Heart NSA Bread & Butter Pickle Chips
The Healthy Heart dills are very crisp, so the texture is quite appealing. They taste good too. However, they do not taste exactly like a full salt pickle. They taste different but still pretty good.


NSA Dill Pickle
The Bread & Butter chips are great! They’re crisp and slightly sweet. The lack of salt does not alter the classic bread & butter pickle flavor much at all. They’re my favorite. (You can tell by the half eaten jar pictured above!) I like them on the side, in sandwiches, and chopped into tuna or egg salad sandwich filling.

NSA Bread & Butter Pickle Chips
These pickles are part of a select group of products that my husband and I think are worth ordering and spending extra money on. They make a real difference in our lunchtime enjoyment. As a result, we order them by the case.

2 comments:

Rita von Hungen said...

Because of the high price for shipping, I haven't tried the Healthy Heart Market pickles. However, I make pseudo pickles of my own. I slice Persian cucumbers diagonally and cover them with a mixture of unseasoned rice vinegar with a couple of packets of Splenda and herbs and leave them in the refrigerator overnight. They last a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. I've never tried to see if it worked with whole pickles.

shambo said...

Rita, thanks for your comment. I agree that the shipping costs for Healthy Heart Market items can be high. I'm glad you've found a good alternative. I've made refrigerator pickles too, and they can be quite good. I'm not sure that the process would work well with whole pickles, though. It would be hard for the flavorful brine to permeate the whole cucumber. Much easier with slices or spears.