Last week, Happy Planet launched a media party to announce its newest award-winning soups – Thai Chicken and Kawartha Chicken Noodle. While I couldn’t properly pronounce the name of the second soup, I can guarantee that everyone can pronounce the ingredients listed on the back. Why? ‘Cos Happy Planet soups are made of all-natural ingredients without the use of preservatives. That’s awesome!
The Thai Chicken has organic chicken, Thai basil, lemongrass, green curry, coconut cream, carrots, baby corn, mushrooms, water chestnuts, red pepper, kaffir lime, and bamboo shoots.
The Kawartha Chicken Noodle has organic chicken, orzo, carrots, celery, parsley and thyme.
Something that I didn’t know was that the colours of the soup packaging had actual meanings. The coloured pouches represented globally-inspired soups that were all gluten-free while the white bags focused on locality (only the Carrot Ginger is gluten-free).
The event was hosted at The Dirty Apron, a cooking school owned by former Chambar Sous-Chef David Robertson and his wife Sara. While we were waiting for dinner to start, David laid down some helpful cooking tips like using stainless steel to remove the garlic smell from your hands after mincing garlic (mind blown…) and using food scraps to make veggie stocks.
Upon arrival, we were served HP’s Coconut Pineapple Smoothie. It was very tropical and refreshing :)
HP’s second juice offering was the Organic Pomegrante Blueberry.
Our dinner started off with a salad that consisted of mild goat cheese, mosaic creamy avocado, sweet yellow beet, crisp apple and balsamic vinegar.
Our main course was HP’s new Thai Chicken Soup! Initially, I thought that the Dirty Apron chefs put their own spin on it, but it was actually just heated up straight out of the bag. It was very fragrant, thanks to the green curry, Thai basil, lemongrass and coconut cream. There was also many different textures, from the crunchy baby corn and water chestnut to the tender organic chicken. The underlying spiciness was a big bonus for me ‘cos I love heat.
To cap off the night, the Dirty Apron served a Basil Lemon Crepe. Since it was made of buckwheat, it was gluten-free. Still, the crepe was light and had a nice chew to it. The basil was very interesting as it gave off a subtle savouriness; pairing the basil with the berry coulis was awesome.
Happy Planet’s newest soups are available now at your local grocery store. Another favorite of mine is the Tomato Basil, as it is both versatile and flavourful.
Disclaimer: I was invited as media, but all views expressed are my own.
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