Fast and fresh meals

Photo: Gregor Halenda 

Fast, Fresh Weeknight Meals
Enough already with greasy takeout: A Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market may be opening soon on a street near you. This chain of small food shops will open 200 branches on the West Coast by the end of the year—with 61 already open in California, Nevada, and Arizona—featuring prepackaged entrées made from all-natural ingredients. One of the most ingenious is a whole chicken coated in garlic, lemon, and herbs, ready to pop in the oven; 45 minutes later, out comes a roasted bird with a moistness that eludes even experienced chefs. 

$3 per pound; FreshandEasy.com

Stylist: Marissa Gimeno for Halley Resources; Food Stylist: Maria Washburn
Healthy, tasty juices

Photo: Gregor Halenda  

Powerhouse Berry Juices
Antioxidant-packed products are crowding supermarkets, but for the most luscious source, head for the juice aisle. Lakewood just released full-bodied juices made with organic açai and goji berries (another superfruit). Tropicana's raspberry açai juice is also loaded with Amazonian açai berries. Maple Lane Farms' Currant Affair juice just may be the most thrilling way to get a dose of black currants, which studies suggest may help prevent or slow the onset of Alzheimer's. And Do Brasil's açai berry with blueberry blends two powerhouse fruits in one smoothie-like drink. 

$7, LakewoodJuices.com; $4.50, Tropicana.com; $4, Maplelane.com; $5, Bomdia.com
 
Stylist: Marissa Gimeno for Halley Resources; Food Stylist: Maria Washburn
All-natural bottled water

Photo: Gregor Halenda   

Drink with a Clear Conscience
The world's first certified carbon-neutral bottled water is produced using only natural, renewable power sources, packaged in recyclable plastic, and tastes delicious. 

Icelandic Glacial, $1, IcelandicGlacial.com

Stylist: Marissa Gimeno for Halley Resources; Food Stylist: Maria Washburn
Tasty, natural yogurts

Photo: Gregor Halenda   

Global Yogurts
The most brilliant new yogurts aren't loaded with additives or packed into weird toothpaste-like tubes. Australian-style Wallaby organic yogurt has a soft creaminess and comes in new varieties like dulce de leche—so sinful-feeling, it could pass for dessert. Siggi's Icelandic-style Skyr is luxuriously thick and shockingly nonfat, given its intense flavor and dense texture. Canada's Liberté has added to its line of clever whole-grain-spiked Six Grains yogurts with its new Méditerranée brand, which launched coconut and lemon varieties this summer. And Oikos organic Greek yogurt's new honey variety tastes like it was made in a kitchen overlooking the Aegean. 

$1, WallabyYogurt.com; $3, Skyr.com; $1.50, Liberte.qc.ca; $2, OikosOrganic.com
 
Stylist: Marissa Gimeno for Halley Resources; Food Stylist: Maria Washburn
Tasty party spreads for fall

Photo: Gregor Halenda   

Perfect Party Spreads
Scarpetta Spreads & Dips, the latest from Sauces 'n Love co-founder Tessa Edick, are reason enough to throw a party. The five Italian-inspired flavors (our favorites: Olive & Almond and Spicy Red Pepper) are ideal for smearing on grilled bread, using as a dip for crudités, or just eating with a spoon straight from the jar. 

$6; SaucesnLove.com
 
Stylist: Marissa Gimeno for Halley Resources; Food Stylist: Maria Washburn
Junk food that's good for you

Photo: Gregor Halenda   

Junk Food That Isn't
Snack foods are finally nailing that elusive combination: wholesome ingredients and can't-keep-your-hand-out-of-the-bag flavor. Food Should Taste Good is a line of stone-ground tortilla chips in varieties like cayenne-and-vinegar-spiked Buffalo. Arico's thin, crispy cassava chips are made from the fiber-packed root vegetable (try the Ginger on Fire). Riceworks' extra-crunchy brown rice crisps come in versions like wasabi and sesame-soy. Addicts can keep guilt to a minimum, since none of these products have artificial ingredients or trans fats.

$3, FoodShouldTasteGood.com; $3, Aricofoods.com; $5, RiceworksSnacks.com
 
Stylist: Marissa Gimeno for Halley Resources; Food Stylist: Maria Washburn
Posh hot dogs

Photo: Gregor Halenda   

Haute Dogs
Known for posh products like foie gras and truffle butter, D'Artagnan goes delightfully down-market with its new line of hot dogs—ultrameaty, all-natural, free of nitrates and nitrites, and available in innovative varieties like buffalo and duck, as well as crowd-pleasing beef and pork 

$8 for duck or buffalo four-pack, $7 for beef or pork; DArtagnan.com
 
Stylist: Marissa Gimeno for Halley Resources; Food Stylist: Maria Washburn
Inexpensive wine

Photo: Gregor Halenda   

Terrific Wines
There's no shame in drinking cheap wine—or bringing it to a dinner party: Terrific bottles in the $15-and-under range are flooding the market. Two great sources are Wine-Shopper.com and WineAccess.com, where you shop online (some restrictions apply) or just compare prices at hundreds of stores across the country. — Richard Nalley

Plus: Fifteen terrific bottles $15 and under

Stylist: Marissa Gimeno for Halley Resources; Food Stylist: Maria Washburn