Nosh Away

Kind folks at F&E tipped me off to their new products called Nature's Nosh a while ago. (They also provided me with pictures!) I finally picked them up the other day.

These Noshes come in 4 different "flavors": Wasabi Edamame, Curry Spiced Apple, Thai Mango Coconut, and Chili Spiced Jicama.

When you open up this little tub, the first layer is a cup of spiced nuts. The bottom is small bits of mixed fruits/soy beans featuring whatever they say on the label plus a few complimenting fruits/veggies. You can eat them separately, but the point is to mix both together and use the collapsible spork to feed your face.

Yes, I said collapsible spork. This unique plastic utensil comes with the salads as well. But I digress.

My first thought: Wow, now here's a way to not waste any pieces of the cut up fruits and vegetables. It's either that, or they're making good of culinary students honing their knife skills

The veggies are in tiny bitty uniform cubes. I'm sure that's not the intention but you know me and my imagination.

Anyways. I tried two out of four that sounded most appealing to me.

The Thai Mango Coconut one was good. You get the sweet mango and the crunch of apple cubes and crispy/chewy texture of toasted coconut. (Promise to update on what all goes into this thing when I jot out all of the ingredients next time.) I liked it enough, but it was a little bit on the boring side to me.

Verdict: Earthbound

The Chili Spiced Jicama, however, I like. I was already a little biased toward this one because I like crunchy snacks. (The apples in the Thai Mango Coconut didn't do enough on the crunching for me.) Cubes of refreshing cucumber and carrots add to the party. The cashews and sunflower seeds go well with all the crunchiness. Actually, compare to the carrots, cashews became the softer texture. The flavor was just the right side of spicy with chili powder and cumin (and whatever else). It reminds me of the salt-sugar-chili concoction we put on our jicama back in Thailand, a street snack.

Verdict: Nirvana

I must also note that the serving portion is plenty as a snack. The container looks a little small and the amount of food looks a little skimpy. But the combination of fruits and nuts, I'm sure any nutritionists can clarify, makes the whole thing very, very filling.

I started in on one as a part of my breakfast of champion (the Nosh and a tall soy latte), and continued to snack on it through the morning. That held me over until lunch time.

But I'm 5 foot tall and 105 lbs. Bigger folks may disagree on the scale of reasonable portion.