---
title: "Ingredients + Sources"
id: "41140"
type: "page"
slug: "ingredients-sources"
published_at: "2023-08-10T03:49:52+00:00"
modified_at: "2024-12-20T13:39:49+00:00"
url: "https://lentinealexis.com/recipes/ingredients-sources/"
markdown_url: "https://lentinealexis.com/recipes/ingredients-sources.md"
---

# Ingredients + Sources

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Ayurvedic medicine is a philosophy founded some 5000-7000 years ago on the Indian Subcontinent, and as such many of the recipes used in this practice are founded on ingredients that would have been easily sourced in that region of the world at that time.

And as it turns out, times haven’t changed *that much!* With the advent of globalization, it’s easier than ever to find blueberries in the dead of winter thousands of miles from where they were grown AND, its just as easy to find exotic spices originating from Indian cuisine…if you know where to look.

The recipes that you’ll find in this digital space are all based on this ancient wisdom, but with a modern, local and sustainable approach. Cooking Ayurvedically doesn’t always require ingredients of Indian origin; in fact the idea that this is the case goes beyond the seasonal, local principles woven deeply into the fabric of the medicine in the first place. Whenever possible, I lean on purveyors that live and grow food here on the Front Range of Colorado where I live, or as nearby as possible. For those ingredients I love to use that aren’t grown or produced here, I typically source from a sustainable vendor that I trust.

The list below contains my favorite sources and purveyors for the ingredients you’ll find in my recipes. If you’re finding it difficult to find an ingredient I list in a store near you, this is where I suggest you turn.

### Spices

I source nearly all of my whole spices from [Diaspora Co.](https://www.diasporaco.com/?sscid=81k7_ab3b1&)
 Not only does Sana source the most beautiful, single-origin, regeneratively grown spices in the world from her home in India, but they’re harvested, shipped and sold with human equity in mind. (No other spice company is so concerned with the humanity, or sustainability of the spice trade.) I typically place quarterly orders with her to ensure I have beautiful spices to work with year-round.

### Dates

The most luscious dates in the world come from [Rancho Meladuco](https://ranchomeladuco.com/)
 in Southern California in my humble opinion. I order large boxes of their grinders, at a savings over what I’d pay in grocery stores locally, and they stay juicy for months.

### Flour

I purchase 99.9% of my flours from [Dry Storage](http://drystorageco.com)
 here in Boulder, Colorado. The grains are grown here in Colorado, then milled in Dry Storage’s own mill site just a few miles from my house. I love these heirloom grain flours because they’re as local and seasonal as it gets, and the flavors they bring to my baked goods are incredible and dynamic. I strongly recommend looking for a millner in your area doing the same, or purchasing flours from Dry Storage and shipping. You won’t be sorry.

### Gluten-Free Flours

I have three specific sources I use for gluten-free flours. Why so many? Because each purveyor has one (or more) types of flour that they excel at, and it’s worth hunting them each down! For many flours, such as almond, oat, tapioca starch, potato starch, millet, sorghum and quinoa flour I typically use [Bob’s Red Mill](https://www.bobsredmill.com/)
 and I’m able to source these at my local grocery.

For[superfine brown rice flour](https://amzn.to/401avs2)
 (which has a less granular texture than stone milled,) and [light buckwheat flour](https://amzn.to/4gojWaL)
 (which has a less granular texture and a lighter color, lending itself well to lighter color baked goods,) I source exclusively from [Anthony’s Goods.](https://anthonysgoods.com/)
I’m often able to get these flours delivered overnight from Amazon. Both are linked above!

Lastly, I’ve found that most of the grocery-store stone milled white rice flours lack the flavor, texture and performance that I desire, and so I go elsewhere. I LOVE the Carolina Gold Rice Flour from [Anson Mills,](https://ansonmills.com/products)
 and order it in 5-10# bags and store it in the fridge. They have a lovely shopping experience that allows you to purchase the weight of flour you want – very thoughtful and useful for homebakers.

### Nuts, Seeds and Sprouted Grains

I have a standing order with [Nuts.com](http://nuts.com)
 for organic nuts, sprouted seeds, grains and other pantry items and let me say that it’s what allows me to make sprouted nut butters, cacao nib granola, and other nut-and-seed spiked dishes (specifically) with such ease and never really worry if I’m out of this or that favorite crunchy component. They have a wonderful library of organic ingredients, every seed, nut, dried fruit and all sorts of favorite snacks. Get yourself a standing order of your favorites, and never go hunting for an overpriced tiny container of walnuts again.

### Beans and Legumes

I’m a longtime customer of [Rancho Gordo](https://www.ranchogordo.com/)
 and few things bring me as much glee as having a box of their beautiful beans delivered. So much so that I’m a recent member of their [Bean Club!](https://www.ranchogordo.com/products/the-rancho-gordo-bean-club)
 Their selection of beautiful, heirloom beans is unmatched as are the purveyors and sources, responsible for sharing beans and legumes indigineous to North America with the modern world.

### Pantry Odds and Ends

- **Tahini:**[Seed + Mill](https://www.seedandmill.com/) is the most incredible tahini I’ve ever discovered; smooth, creamy, never bitter and also now available in a squeeze bottle. Boom.
- **Tinned Fish**: I love the products from [Fishwife](https://eatfishwife.com/) for their ethical sourcing, yes, but let’s be honest: their smoked salmon and albacore tuna will have you swearing off of grocery store tuna forever.

### Chocolate

- **Eating chocolate:** I love Spring + Mulberry’s date-sweetened chocolate bars for general chocolate grazing. Their flavors, inclusions and even packaging make my heart soar.
- **100% unsweetened chocolate**: my go-to baking chocolate, and often the chocolate that I reach for when snacking, making cakes, studding banana bread and more is an unsweetened 100% bar. [Ritual Chocolate](https://www.ritualchocolate.com/) is my purveyor of choice – their bar is full of flavor and the chocolates are all vegan (if that’s important to you!)
- **Chocolate Chips:**[Guittard’s 72% Santé Chocolate Disks](https://www.guittard.com/our-chocolate/detail/sante-72-cacao-chocolate-chips) are my go-to chocolate “chip.” They’re sweetened with coconut sugar and available in many well-stocked grocery stores. And, if nothing else, [are available direct from the source.](https://www.guittard.com/our-chocolate/detail/sante-72-cacao-chocolate-chips)

### Raw Milk (Boulder only)

- **Cow’s Milk**: In Colorado, you must “own” a cow to legally access raw milk. And, at [Lightroot Farm in Boulder you can join their HerdShare program](https://www.lightroot.farm/the-diary) that *technically* allows you to do just that. The milk is delicious, the cows are brushed each day and rotationally graze on grass pastures in the summer, and supplemented with grass and alfalfa in the winter. The happiest life for a cow, ever.
- **Goat’s Milk:** Capering Dairy in Boulder offers a raw milk CSA to members April-November. Goats are milked by hand, which makes me smile.

### Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Boulder only)

- **Vegetables and flowers:**I’m a proud CSA member at [Aspen Moon Farm](https://www.aspenmoonfarm.com/) located in Hygiene. Their farm share program is easy to customize, and very easy to participate in with weekly pickups at the market and in several locations around the Boulder area, not to mention their vegetables and flowers are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen grown on the Front Range.
- **Fruits:**[First Fruits Organics](http://rogersmesafruit.com/fruit-growers/first-fruits/) deliver their Western-slope grown peaches, cherries, plums, nectarines, apricots, apples and pears to the Boulder Farmer’s Market on Wednesday and Saturdays through the summer. Their staff wake at 2am on these mornings to make the trek to our markets, and I make it a point of buying my fruit from them exclusively each week, for as long as it’s available. I can’t imagine buying fruit anywhere else for their effort, and the juiciness and flavor of these beautiful Colorado born products is truly unmatched.

### Meat + Poultry (Boulder only)

- **Meat:** for beef, pork, sausage and eggs the [Boulder Farmer’s Market](https://bcfm.org/) is my favorite source. There are several purveyors, all with different humanely-raised cuts from regenerative farms available. Sky Pilot, Buckner Farms and Golden Hoof are all favorite sources.
- **Chicken**: for chicken specifically, I love [Wisdom Farms](https://www.wisdomsnaturalpoultry.com/) – they sell at a stand at the Boulder market as well.