Breaux Bridge Entrepreneur Introduces Cajun Salsas – Lisa Leblanc-Berry – myNewOrleans.com
MyNewOrleans.com/Acadiana Profile Section – Lisa Leblanc-Berry – Read More Click Here
Michelle Vallot, a career lawyer-turned-entrepreneur who resides in Breaux Bridge, has rolled out new salsas representative of southwest Louisiana’s unique culture. Founder and CEO of Zydeco Foods and creator of the Original Sweet Potato Bar, she recently introduced all-natural, gluten-free Zydeco Sweet Potato Salsa (sweet and fiery), Zydeco Creole Trinity Salsa (a hot and spicy blend) and Zydeco Red Bean Salsa. “We took what was uniquely Louisiana and great tasting to re-create the concept of salsa, but without preservatives or chemicals. And no one was doing salsa in Louisiana!” she says. Zydeco Bars and Salsas can be found in all locations of Rouses and many independent retail grocers, in addition to some locations of Bloomingdale’s stores in Florida and New York. “The plan in 2014 is to expand to all their retail locations,” Vallot notes. “Texas HEB stores are slated for distribution in early 2014.” The Krewe of Boo purchased 7,000 Zydeco Fruit and Pecan Bars for Halloween throws in October last year, and Brian Kern (son of Krewe of Boo founder Blaine Kern) says that he is instituting a revolutionary twist that may, in time, change all of Carnival. Instead of imported plastic beads, Kern says he plans to throw nothing but Louisiana-made products each year, such as Vallot’s health bars, and will extend this new tradition to major Carnival krewes in New Orleans. “Our plan is to partner with the numerous NOLA Mardi Gras krewes for the 2014 parades,” Vallot said. By LISA LEBLANC-BERRY
Mix things up with these 8 new, healthy products spotted on shelves – Molly Kimble w/ NOLA.com – The Times Picayune
by: Molly Kimble w/ NOLA.com – The Times Picayune – Read More Click Here
As a registered dietitian, I’m always on the lookout for new products that make it easy to eat (and drink) healthfully, plus add a bit of variety, so here are eight of my latest finds.
All of these items are available locally in the New Orleans area, and each of the product websites has a locator feature to find stores in your area that carry it. If you don’t see an item in your local grocery store, you can always ask the store manager to stock it.
Zydeco Salsa. I really can’t decide which one I like best. The Sweet Potato Salsa (just 15 calories per two-tablespoon serving, with 10 percent daily value for vitamin A) and the Red Bean Salsa (also just 15 calories, and loaded with tomatoes and red beans) are equally delicious. Plus they’re a South Louisiana company, based out of Lafayette.
Molly Kimball is a registered dietitian in New Orleans. She can be reached at eatingright@nola.com. Comment and read more at NOLA.com/eat-drink.
“The Queen of Zydeco”- Abiz
“The Queen of Zydeco”-Abiz
Michelle Vallot has gone back to her roots and the entrepreneurial skills she honed while doing sales for her dad’s oilfield service company. Vallot grew up in rural Abbeville, the second oldest in a family of seven children all close in age. “Our home was situated on several acres of family property and sugar cane fields farmed by my paternal grandfather and his sons,” Vallot says. “To me these sugar cane fields were beautiful with the tall, giant green canopies of shade they created from the inside of the cane rows looking up that practically reached to the sky. I had grown to love those sugar cane fields even at harvest time, after the cane had been cut down with all of the flags burned off smoldering atop the rows.” Vallot never forgot the sweet sugar smell in the cool autumn fields against the backdrop of an orange setting sun. But it was the manufacturing process — her memory of the smell of sugar cane juice cooking into syrup, a drift she says came from the mill nearby — that would inspire her creativity in the kitchen and one day give rise to her Zydeco Bar company, which she is now working full-time to expand….Click Here to Read the Full Article.
article by: Leslie Turk
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