As long as Free Range Quest is on the road, finding healthy, fresh and local food (especially meat and fish) is an important part of our day… and sometimes it can be tough!
So we were really excited to discover the scrumptious seafood from Oregon’s Fishpeople. Meals from sea-to-spoon that make us swoon!
We were skeptical of ocean delicacies such as tuna, salmon, and razor clams that came in a pouch stored at room temperature; it seemed too good to be true… but what an awesome surprise it was! These are NOT your typical canned soups or camping MREs. They are absolutely tantalizingly tasty, full of protein, rich in omega-3s, and they come from a company committed to sustainability as well as social and ecological responsibility.
The seafood tastes and smells ocean fresh — not too “fishy” — that means safe for your office microwave! The texture is firm but delicate, never over-cooked or processed, and the flavors vary from unique and bright to comforting and rich (sometimes all in the same meal!). The convenient packaging is easy to pack and store, making it perfect for the traveler or the “time-starved,” says Fishpeople CEO, Duncan Berry.
Fishpeople’s seafood meals include Chinook Salmon from the Columbia, tuna from the coast, razor clams, pink shrimp, or crab. They are entrées all on their own, but by adding compliments like rice or quinoa and some fresh vegetables, you can create a quick and endless array of gourmet seafood meal options. The first variety we tried while camping was Thai Coconut Lemongrass Tuna, which was amazing by itself, but we decided to adorn it with wild rice, quinoa, the ubiquitous sriracha, and a few veggies from our bus “fermentation station.” We had people coming up to us at the campground begging for a bite — it smelled and tasted fantastic.
Fishpeople uses local Northwest ingredients, the stars being the seafood.
Out of 144 species that are fished in ports along the coast, only 10 of those are considered “sustainable,” Berry says. “And we want to make those the heroes, make them stand out.”
“Something died to enable us to live, and there’s a humbleness in that,” Berry said of their commitment to local, natural resources. “We also want to keep dollars in the community.”
A little taste-testing dinner party was held at Fishpeople Seafood’s headquarters in Portland’s quickly-transforming Dekum Triangle neighborhood, and we were lucky enough to get an invite to check out some of their new soup recipes.
The recipes are developed in small batches by gourmet, all-star chefs of the Pacific Northwest. Their incredible entrées as well as their soon-to-launch new soups are easily prepared with a cup of boiling water or even in the microwave! These healthy new recipes that we got to sneak-preview featured flavors like tuna in a white chili with tomatillo, pink shrimp with red curry and a hint of coconut, crab bisque, salmon with mushroom sauce, and a razor clam chowder with bacon. All of them DELICIOUS.
Fishpeople is promoting their line at all of the New Seasons in Portland to mark the grand opening of the new Williams store (where the packages are on sale this week for only $3.99 each! That’s a meal for ⅓ the cost of a cocktail… which leaves room in your wallet for more of both!) and there’s a Costco option to come later in the fall.
As you can see, we are kind of obsessed… and we want to share this obsession with you by doing a DOUBLE giveaway!
GIVEAWAY: We’ve got gift boxes featuring a few different flavors to give away to TWO lucky winners! These gift boxes are full of FOUR different entrées including Salmon in Chardonnay Dill Cream Sauce, Coconut Yellow Curry Tuna, Thai Coconut Lemongrass Tuna, and their brand-spanking-new Chinook Salmon & Seashell Pasta in a Wild Mushroom Sauce (our current favorite)!
Just post in the comments below (let us know what you think or tell us where you have shared this story), tweet this story and/or share the link from our Facebook Page (which you already “like”, right?!) for extra entries! We will draw names in a few days (USA entries only for now but if you are in another country and you happen to win, you are welcome to share a USA address of a friend you want us to send it to)!
-Kristina & David-
Free Range Quest 
I would likely never buy something like that without a testimonial. I’m gonna head to New Seasons. 🙂
They are so good… and at New Seasons I should mention they are next to the canned tuna section (maybe they should be next to “prepared meals” too — that’s where I first looked for them).
Those look really good!
They taste even better, I can’t wait until their soup line comes out!
I’ve enjoyed the salmon meals.
I usually only like salmon smoked or prepared as sashimi, but I really like these! This company is doing good work.
We had a quick Albacore Tune Thai Curry over fire roasted veggies and Jasmine rice. Quick, healthy and yum.
The packaged fish sounds fishy, but you make it sound worthy of a try. I saw it at New Seasons the other day and will have to give it a try after reading your review and seeing your pic of your meal.
Fishpeople rocks! Shelf-stable, and so easy to heat up in our galley coffee pots, hence easy and nommy meals while I’m working. Great for camping too. 🙂