Penzeys Spices & Vegan Eats World

Penzeys Spices, Tempe Marketplace, Arizona

Penzeys Spices is a national chain with three locations in Arizona; Tempe Marketplace, Paradise Valley Marketplace (Phoenix), and Tucson. They also sell their spices online.

I recently wanted to make Terry Hope Romero's Pistachio Date Quinoa Salad from Vegan Eats World. But I didn't have any sumac. I know the Middle Eastern Bakery in downtown Phoenix carries it, Lee Lee Oriental Supermarket most likely does, but I needed a place in the north east valley. Then I remembered I had seen this little spice shop at the Tempe Marketplace. I called ahead and they stocked several container sizes of the ground up Middle Eastern berry.

Vegan Eats World Cookbook by Terry Hope Romero- 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Penzeys Spices is a cute little shop with a good vibe next door to the Men's Wearhouse. I also noticed they had smoked paprika which I had been looking for previously. I had been using regular paprika as a replacement, but I kinda want to go back and get some smoked paprika. They had both Hungarian style AND Spanish style and I wasn't sure which I wanted to sample.

Anyway, I got the sumac and made the Pistachio Date Quinoa Salad, and I have to say I was impressed with the salad. It has chickpeas, spinach, parsley, onions, ground coriander, fennel and cumin seeds, as well as the sumac and title ingredients. My first thought was this is interesting... because I didn't know how to process the flavorings.

But it's a really nice salad, makes a nice, bold statement. I used about 3 tablespoons rather than the called for 4 to 6 tablespoons. Sumac smells like lemon vinegar, and the flavoring is oddly similar though reported to be less acidic and milder. The salad would be great for potlucks and such when you want to blow people's minds, and because it can be eaten at room temperature.

Anyway, for those of you with some BIG plans for holiday dinners or for those of you talking Terry's global cuisine cookbook, you have a good chance of finding what you need at Penzeys Spices, so give them a try.

 The final product: Pistachio Date Quinoa Salad