Fruit spread
You’ll find this simple food often sweetened with healthier sugars like apple juice or grape juice concentrate. Less sugar means fewer calories, too. Great on sandwiches, but use various types in savory dishes, too; they add zip to meat glazes and salad dressings.
Try: Crofter’s Just Fruit Organic Blackberry; Fiordifrutta Organic Fruit Spread Peach
Jam
Unlike jelly (crafted from fruit juice), jam is chopped fruit quickly cooked with
sugar and pectin to maintain maximum flavor and more texture. Experiment by adding jam to granola-bar batter before baking, using it to fill crepes, or swirling it through cheesecake.
Try: Stonewall Kitchen Black Raspberry; St. Dalfour Four Fruits
Marmalade
Originally made with quince fruit (in Portuguese, marmelada means “quince jam”), today it’s usually a mix of the pulp, juice, and rind from oranges, grapefruits, kumquats, or lemons. Whisk 4 tablespoons marmalade with 2 tablespoons soy sauce, a pinch of hot chile flakes, and a squeeze of fresh lemon; use to marinate tofu or pork.
Try: Equal Exchange Organic Orange Marmalade; Tahitian Goddess Ginger Gourmet Marmalade
Pepper jelly
This sweet-spicy spread pairs well with dairy foods that temper its heat.
Add a smear to kick up grilled cheese, stir into Greek yogurt for a spicy dip, or simply serve with Brie and crackers. For a portable lunch, spread pepper jelly and hummus on a tortilla, fill with grated fresh veggies, and roll up.
Try: Peggy Rose’s Sweet Pepper Jelly; Suan’s Scotch Bonnet Pepper Jelly
