PLEASE DO NOT PUT HIGH-CALORIE FOODS IN THIS THREAD, THERE IS ANOTHER THREAD FOR THAT NOW.
[this is more my list of foods I go for], purely as a way to maximize vegetables/low-calorie foods as “convenience foods”
eg
SIMPLY ORGANIC PARSLEY (apigenin more concentrated, and WAY easier to eat than regular parsley, which is wrapped with plastic if you have it delivered to u)
jovial tomatoes
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here’s one i might eat on occasion but not often:
Short answer: Yes — about 300 kcal for the whole 18.7‑oz (530 g) jar is at the low‑to‑middle end of the range for oil‑marinated antipasto‑style vegetables. The number makes sense if (a) the vegetables are packed in a light sunflower‑oil brine and (b) you don’t drink the leftover oil. Heavier antipasti that use more olive oil often land closer to 450‑600 kcal per jar of similar size.
How Ika’s 300 kcal breaks down
| Source |
Stated calories |
Serving size in the database |
Implied kcal / 100 g |
|
| Ika’s Garden Mediterranean Appetizer |
60 kcal |
½ cup (entry in MyNetDiary) |
≈ 65–70 kcal/100 g → ≈ 350‑370 kcal for the full 530 g jar |
(MyNetDiary) (Ika’s Garden) |
The retail label you saw (100 kcal × 3 servings = 300 kcal) assumes a larger “serving” of ~175 g — roughly what you’d get if you drained most of the oil first. The math:
530 g jar ÷ 3 servings ≈ 175 g per serving
100 kcal ÷ 175 g ≈ 57 kcal per 100 g
That lines up closely with the 65 kcal/100 g figure above once you remember a few spoonfuls of sunflower oil are likely to stay in the jar.
How that compares to similar antipasti
| Product (all jarred, oil‑marinated) |
kcal / serving |
Declared serving |
kcal / 100 g (approx.) |
| Trader Joe’s Antipasto Mediterranean Vegetables
|
60 kcal |
¼ cup (30 g) |
200 kcal/100 g — very oil‑rich (FatSecret) |
| Roasted red peppers in oil (DeLallo example) |
20 kcal |
28 g |
70 kcal/100 g (NutritionValue) |
| Marinated artichoke hearts (Pampa) |
90 kcal |
100 g |
90 kcal/100 g (MyNetDiary) |
| Ika’s (your jar, label math) |
100 kcal |
175 g |
57 kcal/100 g |
Take‑away: Ika’s sits at the leaner end of the spectrum — closer to peppers in a light brine than to TJ’s very oily mix.
Why sunflower‑oil jars can still look “low‑cal”
-
Most of the oil stays behind. Nutrition panels must assume you eat everything in the jar as packed, but brands can choose a larger “serving” that realistically gets drained, bringing the per‑serving calories down.
-
Vegetable bulk dilutes energy density. Peppers and eggplant are ~90 % water. Even if 10–12 g of oil cling to each 175 g “serving,” that’s only ~110 kcal from fat plus ~30 kcal from veggies → about 140 kcal; if you leave some oil, you end up near the 100 kcal on the label.
-
Sunflower vs. olive oil: same 9 kcal/g, but sunflower oil often separates more quickly, so consumers tend to pour it off.
Practical tips for tighter calorie tracking
| Strategy |
Estimated saving |
|
Drain & blot vegetables on a paper towel |
20‑40 kcal per ½‑cup |
|
Weigh the oil you do use (1 Tbsp ≈ 120 kcal) |
Highly accurate |
|
Dilute leftover oil into a vinaigrette and log it separately |
Prevents “mystery calories” later |
If you eat the jar dry, logging ~300 kcal is perfectly reasonable. If you sop up all the oil with bread, assume another 250‑300 kcal per ¼ cup of oil and log accordingly.
Bottom line: The 100 kcal × 3 figure doesn’t signal a mis‑print — it just reflects a fairly low‑oil antipasto relative to other brands. Adjust upward only if you plan to consume the oil rather than leave it behind.
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jovial tomatoes sadly have a paint top. But I’m way more concerned abtou nanoplastics from plastic water bottles than larger microplastics rom paint caps
