My Wonderful Pistachio Tour
It was so fun spending time with fellow colleagues learning more about The Wonderful Company and the pistachio harvest. As you know, I’m a huge fan of pistachios—packed with plant-powered goodness. It was exciting learning more about all of the amazing things this company is doing beyond just producing delicious, healthful whole plant foods.
Shutters on the Beach, Santa Monica
We started off meeting at the lovely Shutters in Santa Monica, a boutique hotel right on the beach. I had a pretty glass of Prosecco to start off the tour.
Watermelon Grapefruit Cucumber Salad at Shutters
This was the perfect light late lunch at Shutters!
View of the Santa Monica Pier, Shutters
Such a lovely view of the Santa Monica pier from my room! People out running and biking early in the morning, too.
Pistachio Cocktails, Shutters
We enjoyed some delicious pistachio themed craft cocktails before dinner at Shutters; I chose a smoky, spicy tequila drink with lemon juice and a pistachio dusting on the glass. During dinner, we heard from the amazing Jim Painter, PhD about The Pistachio Principle, and how pistachios are great for mindful eating.
Pretty Pistachio Florals
Love this idea of displaying pistachios in a vase of flowers!
Lynda Resnick, Wonderful Preschool
The next morning, we set off for Lost Hills, CA—a small, agricultural town in the Central Valley where half of all homes have at least one person working for The Wonderful Company. We stopped by the Wonderful Preschool—a project founded by The Wonderful owner, Lynda Resnick, who was spending time with the students as you can see here. This preschool offers workers better options for childcare.
Almond Village, Lost Hills
Lynda Resnick has done something truly unique in the business world—she has pretty much adopted the city of Lost Hills. As she says, she decided to put her money to good use, and instead of writing checks to charity, she put those dollars to work shoring up an entire community that serves The Wonderful Company. One of the projects is Almond Village—beautiful, sustainable apartments and homes that the company built to offer affordable housing for people in the community.
Wonderful Wellness Center
Lynda also founded the Wonderful Wellness Centers, which provide a very proactive health care program for the employees of The Wonderful Company. Prevention is a big key to its success. Lynda is passionate about the power of health and nutrition to prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Lunch at The Wonderful Company
We enjoyed a lovely lunch during our road trip! This was a beautiful jicama orange salad with pistachios, and tacos with black beans and cauliflower Spanish “rice”! So healthy and delicious.
Maggie Moon, MS, RD, Presenting on Pistachios
The fabulous Maggie Moon told us all about the health benefits of munching on pistachios. These nuts are packed with protein, fiber, healthy fats, and phytochemicals, making them good for heart health, weight loss, diabetes, and overall optimal health. You get a whopping 49 kernels of pistachios in one ounce (a serving), and studies show that when you eat them in the shell it helps you be more mindful of how much you are consuming.
Employee Cafeteria, The Wonderful Company
Can you imagine walking into a cafeteria that looks like this! That’s because Lynda Resnick wants to encourage her employees to eat healthfully, so they can purchase wholesome food at lower prices because the company subsidizes those foods.
Watch a short video on my Instagram from my tour of the pistachio plant.
Pistachios, Processed at The Wonderful Company
The pistachios are just being harvested right now in the fields! Then they are dried and stored in the silo, after which they will be processed in batches. First they go through the sorter line, then they are salted, roasted, and packaged. Pretty simple!
Raw Pistachios, Harvested Straight from the Tree
This is what a fresh pistachio looks like right off the tree. It is covered with a soft, rosy layer, and beneath that is the hard shell—when they are fresh like this, the nuts are soft and bright green.
In the Pistachio Orchard
It’s a bumper crop of pistachios this year in California—just look at these babies! Enjoy pistachios to take advantage of their abundance.
Wonderful Pistachio Orchard
Lovely pistachio trees as far as the eye can see.
Fresh Pistachios on the Tree
Aren’t they pretty?
Pistachio Harvester
First the pistachio harvester shakes the trees, and then they are transferred to a truck for transportation.
Justin Winery Wonderful Pistachio Dinner
The Wonderful Company also owns one of my favorite wineries: Justin Winery! Located in lovely Paso Robles, they produce beautiful Bordeaux style blends. We enjoyed a fabulous dinner there. Here’s one of my tasty courses: Smoked, pressed tofu with a spiced, crispy rice and pistachio pesto. The plant-based food prepared by the Justin chef was amazing.
Chefs at work at Justin Winery
Here the chefs bend over their work as they prepare our luscious meals prepared with pistachios.
Dinner at Justin Winery
Enjoying lovely Justin wines with my delicious meal.
Heirloom Tomatoes with Chimichurri Sauce and Garlic Flowers, Justin Winery
Look at this amazing plant-based entrée! A hearty chimicurri sauce over caramelized layers of heirloom tomatoes, garnished with pretty garlic flowers.
This was a fabulous trip, and I learned so much more about the health benefits and cultivation of this powerful plant food. Go on down to Wonderful Pistachios to check out some easy ways to use pistachios in your daily diet.