PINCH ME

Can it be true? A potato chip that isn't so loaded with salt that you feel like a desiccated husk after eating a handful?

Yes, Virginia, it's true. Pinch of Salt is the new low-sodium line of some of America's most popular crisps – Lay's potato chips, Tostitos, Fritos and Ruffles. A 1-ounce serving of Pinch of Salt chips has 75 milligrams of sodium compared to 175 to 180 milligrams in a 1-ounce serving of regular chips. And – as a pleasant surprise – the lower sodium offerings are actually worth wrapping a lip around. The Fritos and Ruffles we sampled had all the crunch and taste you would expect from these name brands.

Pinch of Salt may not be an answer to a prayer, but to have the option of munching on a less salty cruncher is nothing short of a miracle. The full line is in supermarkets now, retailing for about $2.29 for a 6.25-to 8-ounce package.

PASTA PRONTO

The new Tuscani Pastas from Pizza Hut definitely have their advantages, not least of which is that you don't have to change out of your fat pants to go get them. The hefty, cheesy, saucy pastas – in Meaty Marinara or Creamy Chicken Alfredo – can be delivered right to your door, just like Pizza Hut's pizzas.

Both varieties have their detractors. Some newsroom tasters felt the rotini – which is the ballast for both dishes – was slightly overcooked, and that the Marinara was quite tame, while the Alfredo was a tad too salty. But the sauces did not stint on the meat and chicken, and both casseroles were generously cloaked in cheese. Everyone agreed these would be party pleasers, especially among kids.

A 3-pound tray of pasta – which purports to feed four, but could easily feed more, especially if it were part of a buffet – is $11.99 and comes with five bread sticks to augment the carbo load.

Visit pizzahut.com to order online or to find the Hut nearest you.

NUTS TO YOU

Man does not live by peanut butter alone – especially if he shops at the gleaming new 45,000-square-foot Vons in Liberty Station. With the possible exception of a taxidermist, the two-building mega-mart – with a courtyard filled with food displays, flowers and gardening accoutrement – has got everything.

That everything includes an expansive nut bar containing more than 50 varieties of every raw, roasted, salted and unsalted nut imaginable – peanuts, of course, but hazelnuts, pistachios, pecans, macadamias and cashews, too. Don't like 'em plain? The good nutkins who operate the bar will gladly gild any nut you choose with a cinnamon vanilla flavor.

And if eating them out of hand is not your thing, you can grind your nutty purchase into a creamy butter that would make Jif jealous. (If you are grinding machine-phobic, there are some nut butters already packed up in the bar's refrigerated case.)

Prices vary according to the ritziness of the nut, but the most popular seller, honey-roasted peanut butter, goes for $4.98 a pound. The luxe almond butter sells for $9.98 a pound. The Vons is at 2495 Truxtun Road; (619) 758-1725.

– CAROLINE DIPPING