Some people hate grocery shopping, can you imagine? There are rows and rows of delicious new foods that can catch your eye and change your dinner plans. Browsing the aisles at a different than usual for me grocery store is exactly how I came across this Freak Flag Tomato Pesto at Lowe's Foods.
Freak Flag, based in Minnesota, is a vegan and nut-free company that organic condiments, pestos, and well, never mind they aren't all vegan, they also make organic bone broths. In addition to the tomato pesto we are focusing on today, they also make a carrot pesto and kale pesto.
Generally when I make my traditional basil pesto, I use both cheese and nuts so I was curious to see how this nut and dairy-free version stacked up. In order to see its true flavor value, I went simple for the first dish I made with it and just added a few spoonfuls to hot pasta.
So how was it?
It was good for a vegan pesto. I could tell there was a lack of depth of flavor here that you usually get from the pine nuts or walnuts, and Parmesan cheese. I had to sprinkle salt over the finished pasta, something I rarely have to do. However, if you're vegan or nut-free, this might be the best organic tomato pesto you can find. To finish off this jar, I will go against it's vegan roots and add it to a grilled cheese sandwich. Ironically though, they recommend adding this to a steak, so maybe this company is more about being dairy-free than straight up vegan.
You can find Freak Flag products all over the country at organic and specialty grocers. Maybe I'll check out the carrot pesto next. Or kale? We'll see what's in stock next time I go luxuriously wandering through the grocery store, something that I took for granted before the pandemic but hope never to do again.