From pumpkin to late summer figs, we are showcasing ingredients at their peak of nutrition and flavor—explore how we create our menu with seasonal foods in mind.
Designing a seasonal Thistle menu is a bit like solving a complicated puzzle. When Thistle’s Culinary R&D team sits down to design the next season’s menu, we ask ourselves a number of questions:
Which delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables do we want to highlight?
We usually begin this process by simply listing out each of our favorite seasonal fruits and veggies. We knew we wanted to highlight lots of hard winter squashes this season such as butternut, red kuri, delicata, pumpkin and kabocha. We also wanted to feature pears, apples, pomegranate and some late summer figs. With those ingredients as our starting point, the team began to map out how we wanted to use the seasonal produce throughout the menu.
Which dishes from the previous season are fading out, and how should we replace them?
Because we strive to “eat the seasons” here at Thistle, there comes a time when certain fruits and veggies are no longer available and we pivot onto the next season’s bounty. When transitioning from summer into fall, we knew that the eggplant for our Eggplant Puttanesca would no longer be at its seasonal peak, so we developed and swapped in the Carbonara with Shells – a warm, hearty dish with a creamy umami-packed sauce made of sweet potatoes.
Another fun aspect of our seasonal menu is when fan favorites make a reappearance! We are really excited to bring back the Pumpkin Chia Pudding, which uses the unbelievably fall-y Pumpkin Pie Spice blend from our friends at Oaktown Spice Shop. I’m sure many of us could eat pumpkin spiced anything all year long, so we were all very excited to be bringing this delicious breakfast back.
How can we ensure that our new seasonal dishes meet Thistle’s clean ingredient and nutrition standards?
In addition to serving plant-forward meals that are gluten and dairy-free, we strive to serve meals that are comprised of whole, minimally processed ingredients. The best way to achieve this is to make fruits and vegetables the focal point like in our seasonal Turmeric Jeweled Rice & Brussel Sprout Salad, where vibrant pink pickled turnips pop next to the rich colors of our turmeric jeweled rice and roasted Brussels sprouts.
Another way to ensure we’re meeting our ingredient standards while still producing delicious, plant-based meals is by finding amazing partners who share our passion for minimally processed foods that taste amazing–like cocojune’s coconut yogurt! Many plant-based yogurts are packed with refined sugars, thickeners and stabilizers, but not cocojune! The ingredients in their Pure Coconut flavor are simply: organic coconuts, spring water, organic cassava root, vegan probiotic cultures. When designing our decadent Caramel Apple Mousse with Maple Pecan Clusters snack, it was easy to make cocojune’s Pure Coconut yogurt the centerpiece, and then complement it beautifully with salty “caramel” apples and crunchy pecan clusters. Such a festive and nourishing fall treat!
How can we ensure that these new dishes will be fun, exciting and most importantly, delicious?
Our team is constantly planning, testing and perfecting our recipes – both new and old. All of the meals on our menu are made up of dishes we personally love to eat.
I am absolutely in love with the Persephone Salad, which features our amazingly tart yet sweet Pomegranate Vinaigrette, a dressing I knew I wanted to incorporate in a new fall salad. Orzo is also a comfort food for me, something I grew up eating almost weekly, and Banza makes a chickpea rice that is very similar in texture and taste to a traditional orzo pasta. Bringing these two favorites of mine together and adding some spiced roasted sweet potatoes and creamy sun cheese yielded the surprisingly colorful yet balanced Harvest Orzo Salad. You can find this new seasonal dish on the fall menu.
While it’s often a creative challenge to innovate within our product ethos, it's also really rewarding when everything comes together and we’re able to create new recipes that honor the season, meet our nutrition standards and satisfy not only your hunger but your taste buds, too – because that’s the most important part.
We’re always looking for new concepts, flavors and recipes, so if there’s anything you’d like to see on the next season’s menu, don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for being a part of the Thistle community, we are grateful!
From pumpkin to late summer figs, we are showcasing ingredients at their peak of nutrition and flavor—explore how we create our menu with seasonal foods in mind.
Designing a seasonal Thistle menu is a bit like solving a complicated puzzle. When Thistle’s Culinary R&D team sits down to design the next season’s menu, we ask ourselves a number of questions:
Which delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables do we want to highlight?
We usually begin this process by simply listing out each of our favorite seasonal fruits and veggies. We knew we wanted to highlight lots of hard winter squashes this season such as butternut, red kuri, delicata, pumpkin and kabocha. We also wanted to feature pears, apples, pomegranate and some late summer figs. With those ingredients as our starting point, the team began to map out how we wanted to use the seasonal produce throughout the menu.
Which dishes from the previous season are fading out, and how should we replace them?
Because we strive to “eat the seasons” here at Thistle, there comes a time when certain fruits and veggies are no longer available and we pivot onto the next season’s bounty. When transitioning from summer into fall, we knew that the eggplant for our Eggplant Puttanesca would no longer be at its seasonal peak, so we developed and swapped in the Carbonara with Shells – a warm, hearty dish with a creamy umami-packed sauce made of sweet potatoes.
Another fun aspect of our seasonal menu is when fan favorites make a reappearance! We are really excited to bring back the Pumpkin Chia Pudding, which uses the unbelievably fall-y Pumpkin Pie Spice blend from our friends at Oaktown Spice Shop. I’m sure many of us could eat pumpkin spiced anything all year long, so we were all very excited to be bringing this delicious breakfast back.
How can we ensure that our new seasonal dishes meet Thistle’s clean ingredient and nutrition standards?
In addition to serving plant-forward meals that are gluten and dairy-free, we strive to serve meals that are comprised of whole, minimally processed ingredients. The best way to achieve this is to make fruits and vegetables the focal point like in our seasonal Turmeric Jeweled Rice & Brussel Sprout Salad, where vibrant pink pickled turnips pop next to the rich colors of our turmeric jeweled rice and roasted Brussels sprouts.
Another way to ensure we’re meeting our ingredient standards while still producing delicious, plant-based meals is by finding amazing partners who share our passion for minimally processed foods that taste amazing–like cocojune’s coconut yogurt! Many plant-based yogurts are packed with refined sugars, thickeners and stabilizers, but not cocojune! The ingredients in their Pure Coconut flavor are simply: organic coconuts, spring water, organic cassava root, vegan probiotic cultures. When designing our decadent Caramel Apple Mousse with Maple Pecan Clusters snack, it was easy to make cocojune’s Pure Coconut yogurt the centerpiece, and then complement it beautifully with salty “caramel” apples and crunchy pecan clusters. Such a festive and nourishing fall treat!
How can we ensure that these new dishes will be fun, exciting and most importantly, delicious?
Our team is constantly planning, testing and perfecting our recipes – both new and old. All of the meals on our menu are made up of dishes we personally love to eat.
I am absolutely in love with the Persephone Salad, which features our amazingly tart yet sweet Pomegranate Vinaigrette, a dressing I knew I wanted to incorporate in a new fall salad. Orzo is also a comfort food for me, something I grew up eating almost weekly, and Banza makes a chickpea rice that is very similar in texture and taste to a traditional orzo pasta. Bringing these two favorites of mine together and adding some spiced roasted sweet potatoes and creamy sun cheese yielded the surprisingly colorful yet balanced Harvest Orzo Salad. You can find this new seasonal dish on the fall menu.
While it’s often a creative challenge to innovate within our product ethos, it's also really rewarding when everything comes together and we’re able to create new recipes that honor the season, meet our nutrition standards and satisfy not only your hunger but your taste buds, too – because that’s the most important part.
We’re always looking for new concepts, flavors and recipes, so if there’s anything you’d like to see on the next season’s menu, don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for being a part of the Thistle community, we are grateful!
