Frozen Aisle Alert: PlantPure Offers Tasty Entrees for Vegetarians, Vegans

PlantPure, formerly NewLeaf, offers a variety of vegan frozen meals.

We’ve long searched the frozen food aisle for entrees that are vegetarian, healthy, convenient, environmentally friendly and flavorful. So we were delighted to find all our requirements met by PlantPure, available at Whole Foods, where choices include Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Romesco Sauce, Java Barbeque Tempeh with Quinoa, and Tuscan Pesto Pasta with Alfredo Sauce, priced at $4.99 per 12-ounce meal. This fall, Tangerine Stir Fry on Forbidden Rice will be added to the all-vegan lineup, with four more entrees to follow.

PlantPure has an interesting pedigree to boot. Co-founder Nelson Campbell is the son of T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., the Cornell researcher who helped instigate the China Study in the ’70s; he also wrote a book about the experience called The China Study (BenBella Books, 2004). The exhaustive research was among the first to get experts to sit up and take notice of plant-based diets, showing the link between nutrition and reduced incidence of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Vegetarian and vegan diets also have been shown to be more eco-friendly, using fewer land and water resources.

Campbell and Frank Davis started the company in 2009 as NewLeaf, but changed the name to PlantPure to better reflect their goal of promoting healthy plant-based diets. During the transition, you still may find some entrees with the old moniker in the freezer section. Don’t have a Whole Foods store near you? Just go to PlantPure’s website and order for home delivery. The online store also offers a variety of freeze-dried entrees ($47.70 per box of six), such as Country Style Tomato Rotini and Portabella Mushroom Stroganoff.