Founded in 1939, Mi Rancho started out as a small Mexican grocery and bakery in Oakland, California. Back then the corn tortillas were made by hand in the back of the shop. Eighty years later, Mi Rancho produces over 4 million tortillas every day. The tortillas are made using the same ingredients—corn, lime, and water—the corn is still ground on hand-carved lava stones, but now the tortillas are shaped by machines rather than a crew of abuelas. The result is hearty tortillas that can be fried for tostadas, baked for chips, rolled into enchiladas, or simply folded for tacos.  

You’ll find Mi Rancho tortillas on our menu most weeks in our tacos, tostadas, or enchiladas.

The post Let’s Taco ‘Bout Our Favorite Tortillas appeared first on Sunbasket.

Here, Chef Justine talks about why partnerships with producers like Belcampo, are essential to Sun Basket: 

The post Why Sourcing High-Quality Ingredients Matters appeared first on Sunbasket.

These green vegetables not only brighten a dish and add a pop of flavor, but they’re also typically low in calories, rich in fiber and vitamin K, with both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. 

While spring vegetables are plentiful right now, high demand—particularly for organic varieties—means that our buyers sometimes struggle to get all they need to fill our orders. When that happens, we need to substitute one organic spring vegetable for another. Which is why you might receive snow peas instead of sugar snap peas, or green beans instead of asparagus green beans, depending on what’s available that week.

Our commitment to seasonal ingredients requires us to adapt to the unpredictability of the marketplace. Sometimes you’ll find fresh produce in your box that’s different than what’s shown in the photo of the recipe. Here, we explore those potential substitutions and share some information about the seasonal vegetables in your box each week.

Illustration by @boccaccinimeadows

The post Soaking Up Spring’s Bounty appeared first on Sunbasket.

The lettuces we source for Sun Basket recipes fall into four categories: looseleaf, butterhead, crisphead, and romaine. 

Butter and Bibb lettuces are butterheads, the heads are round, smooth, and delicate, making them the ideal leaves for lettuce cups because they wrap around ingredients like ground turkey and burgers easily, but don’t crack under pressure. When you order a recipe with butter lettuce, you’ll receive an entire head of “living lettuce,” meaning that the roots are intact. Because the roots are still attached to their food source, they stay fresh longer.   

Iceberg, the best-known crisphead lettuce, has a stodgy reputation compared to sexier greens like radicchio and arugula, but we love its crunchy leaves and juicy texture, especially on a burger or a BLT. You may find it in your box as a replacement for butter lettuce because it makes a great lettuce cup.  

Crisp romaine has a thick center rib that makes it perfect for crunchy salads, particularly classic Caesars. We like to toss it on the grill—it’s sturdy enough to take the heat—for a smoky side dish. Note: All Sun Basket romaine is grown in California.  

Red and green leaf lettuce fall into the looseleaf camp. These are much more delicate than other salad greens and prone to wilting quickly. Save the dressing until just before serving.

Lettuces are susceptible to the drastic changes in weather. They prefer cool temperatures and are easily damaged if the mercury takes a dip or spikes suddenly. Weather conditions can make it difficult to source large quantities of organic varieties. For quality control, we prefer to ship whole heads of lettuce, even when a recipe calls for only a few leaves, as with sliders or lettuce cups, which means you may receive a different variety than what’s in the recipe photo.

At Sun Basket, our commitment to seasonal cooking means that sometimes we must adapt to the unpredictability of the marketplace. Sometimes you’ll find fresh produce in your box that’s different than what’s shown in the photograph of the recipe. In our Market Watch, we explore these potential substitutions and share some more information about the seasonal vegetables in your box each week.

Illustration by @boccaccinimeadows 

The post A Lettuce Lover’s Guide appeared first on Sunbasket.

Don’t waste your energy.

The amount of energy used to raise animals for food far surpasses what’s needed to cultivate vegetables and fruits. Overall, livestock takes a huge toll (much greater than that of most plant foods) on the climate. Feed production and transport, the carbon release that happens when rainforests are cleared to make room for agricultural land, as well as the transportation of livestock, food production, increased need for refrigeration, and more, are all having a big impact on our fragile planet. 

Dreadful, droughtful, and wasteful.

With the world’s freshwater supplies at an all-time low, water conservation is of the utmost importance. Raising animals requires a lot of water. It’s used to grow food for them to eat, to hydrate them throughout their lifetime, and for processing (cleaning, mixing, etc). A single ⅓ pound beef burger, for example, requires an estimated 660 gallons of water to produce. That’s the equivalent of taking a 5½ hour shower. 

Join the emission opposition.

If you’ve ever driven past a feedlot you know that cow farts are no joke. Those methane emissions are a contributor to the greenhouse gases that are slowly warming the planet. According to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency, agriculture is responsible for about 9 percent of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with livestock—especially cattle—representing about one-third of those emissions. 

The post A Vegan Diet Can Help Reduce Your Carbon Footprint appeared first on Sunbasket.

Run by the D’Amico family for four generations, To-Jo embodies all the values that we look for in our suppliers: A commitment to supporting their workers, the most sustainable growing practices, deep roots in the community, and a great tasting product.

The post To-Jo: Mushrooms with a Mission appeared first on Sunbasket.