Spring is in the air, and Dorot Gardens has the goods to celebrate. With March being Frozen Food Month and April being National Garlic Month, Dorot Gardens has a variety of products perfect for each occasion. Dorot Gardens offers innovative frozen packages of fresh, pre-portioned herbs and garlic that eliminate the process of peeling, chopping, and measuring. All it takes to season and flavor a dish is a cube of the right spice. Dorot Gardens’ current lineup of frozen products consists of Garlic, Ginger, Basil, Onions, Cilantro, Turmeric, Parsley, and Dill. Dorot Gardens’ products are free of gluten, dairy, soy, nuts, and artificial preservatives and ingredients. They are proudly vegan, OU kosher, halal, and non-GMO verified.
Dorot Gardens’ colorful history dates to the late 1980s on a Kibbutz—an agricultural communal settlement in Israel. Initially seeking to make garlic more appealing and easier to prepare, Dorot Gardens’ founder set to work, experimenting in his home laboratory until he developed the frozen Crushed Garlic that customers still know and love today. The brand Dorot Gardens was established in 1992 and is still fully owned by the Kibbutz Dorot, where more than 3,500 acres of field crops of garlic and herbs are grown. Since its inception, the brand has grown to its current lineup of eight high-quality products, which are produced to meet the strictest industrial standards. To ensure maximum flavor, nutritional value, and freshness, Dorot Gardens picks the herbs and garlic from the fields, processes them, and flash freezes them into their packaging trays within 90 minutes of harvest. Once frozen, the products have an expected two-year shelf life, giving customers fresh seasonings even when they are out of season.
Dorot Garden’s Frozen Food Month in March is all about communicating and embracing the many benefits of frozen foods. Some benefits of keeping frozen herbs and garlic include:
- Saving time on cooking prep – having ready-to-go cubes of herbs and garlic saves time on chopping, crushing, and preparing
- Having fresh options anytime – even without an at-home herb garden or a quick trip to the store, a dish can be flavored with fresh and delicious additions
- Retaining vitamins and minerals – as a rule, when foods are frozen while fresh and ripe, they can hold onto their nutrients for longer
- Preserving flavor and aroma – when herbs and spices are frozen, they can maintain their taste and smell for longer than if they are dried
“There is a real difference you can taste when you use fresh herbs as opposed to dried spices, but not everyone has the space or green thumb needed to grow their own” says Laura Morris, Associate Marketing Director of Dorot Gardens. “Frozen, prepared, and pre-portioned ingredients are an amazing way to get that top-notch flavor without the fuss. .”
Moving into National Garlic Month in April, Dorot Gardens invites customers to take a moment to learn some fun facts about garlic:
- Garlic is an allium, or a member of the onion family, which also includes leeks and shallots.
- Garlic has been used as a medicinal ingredient since Greek and Roman times to promote heart health and immune system support, and to help boost circulation.
- Garlic can help relieve a variety of ailments including nausea, inflammation, joint pain, respiratory problems, and tumors.
- Garlic has detoxifying properties and can help lower high cholesterol.
- The smell of garlic can be removed from one’s hands by running them under cold water while rubbing a stainless-steel object.
- Garlic breath can be combatted by drinking lemon juice or eating a few slices of lemon.
Dorot Gardens also encourages customers to experiment with their recipes by incorporating their frozen Crushed Garlic. Each cube of the frozen, pre-packaged Crushed Garlic is the equivalent of one fresh clove. One idea for using Dorot Gardens Crushed Garlic is this easy and healthy Dorot Gardens Garlic Hummus Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 4 Dorot Gardens Crushed Garlic cubes
- 2 cups of canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
- 1/3 cup of tahini
- 6 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 whole lemons)
- 2 tablespoons of water or liquid from the chickpeas
- 8 dashes of preferred hot sauce
Add all the ingredients to a food processor and process until coarsely pureed. Add extra seasonings to taste and serve chilled or at room temperature.
“Garlic is a great ingredient to have on-hand because it’s so versatile and can add a ton of flavor to a dish with very little effort,” adds Laura Morris. “While it’s awesome to have some garlic cloves around, the frozen cubes make things much easier and require a lot less planning.”
Dorot Gardens products can be found in the frozen veggie aisle of grocery stores including Kroger, Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, Albertsons and Whole Foods. For more recipes, nutritional information and more, visit www.dorotgardens.com or follow Dorot Gardens on Facebook and Instagram (@DorotGardens on both).
About Dorot Gardens
Dorot Gardens specializes in developing, producing and marketing frozen seasoning products all over the world. The company was established in 1992 and is fully owned by Kibbutz Dorot in the southern part of Israel.
The kibbutz has more than 3,500 acres of field crops – garlic & herbs – which are picked, and then immediately chopped, packaged and frozen in a unique fast freeze process, maintaining their taste, freshness, and nutritive value. Over the years, the company has grown and expanded, and is today the largest supplier in Israel of fresh frozen seasoning products.
About Kayco/Kayco Beyond
Kayco is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of kosher foods. Its expanded Kayco Beyond Division sources and distributes new products to the general market beyond kosher, to meet the demands of consumers looking for optional products that are healthful, convenient and/or for restricted diets and lifestyles. These brands include Dorot, Absolutely Gluten Free, Beetology, Mighty Sesame, Wonder Melon™ and Dorot Gardens, among others. They are headquartered in Bayonne, NJ. (www.KAYCO.com).
