Do yourself a favor and try these!

As my close friends know, I've recently become absolutely and completely obsessed with shopping at Whole Foods.

Unfortunately, the closest one to me is near work but an hour away from my home. Fortunately, it is SO close to my work that I'm able to stop and get one of their prepared foods (okay, who am I kidding, I get sushi. Every. Damn. Time.) for lunch.

On my way home from work Monday night, I decided to stop at Whole Foods to pick something up for dinner for the three of us, and came upon something... (sigh) wonderful. Positively wonderful.

There, calling my name, beckoning me, if you will, were these beauties.



Yes, you're reading that correctly -- pickled green tomatoes.

I will admit that I do get some delight out of telling people about my sometimes less-than-conventional food choices (my mom still squirms when I tell her about sushi... weirdo). I do tend to buy things that are maybe a little off-center, because I'll give anything a try, and so when I saw these, I HAD to buy them. Trust me, my friends, I did not regret it.

These amazing tomatoes have a wonderful vinegar and dill bite, and yet have not lost their crunch. They don't taste exactly like pickles, they definitely have their own flavor. But if you enjoy the flavor and crunch of fresh (even homemade or locally-purchased) pickles, you'll enjoy these. They're packed in a deliciously garlic brine (some of which I'm planning to reserve for hot dirty martinis) with fresh dill and grape leaves, and the whole pieces of garlic inside are fantastic even on their own.



I'm not being paid anything to say this, and I have no incentive for telling you about these, but I'm so in love with them that I just had to share. My half-empty container speaks for itself!

The other thing I LOVE about these, besides the taste which, seriously... yum, is that they're local. Grillo's Pickles is in Boston, and their address is right on the container. When given the choice, I'll pay a little more to support my local businesses.

Find out more about Grillo's Pickles at http://www.grillospickles.com. According to their site, they're available in the produce section at Whole Foods in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as a few smaller chain stores (you can find the exact list here -- http://grillospickles.com/store.html). They also have a Twitter -- you can find them at @GrillosPickles.

You may not have a Whole Foods near you, but trust me -- these are worth the drive!