The road to snack foods is paved with all sorts of things – oils, fats, salt, nuts and the ever popular bleached enriched
flour. While my usual bachelor-style snack of choice is an uncooked ramen block, rather than choosing the epitome of unhealthy this time around, I picked up some bags of sunflower seed snacks made by the Somersault Snack Co.
They’re made with whole wheat flour (so they’re not gluten-free), they’re mainly composed of sunflower and sesame seeds so they are nut-free and well as vegan.
Previous people that tried these have had widely varying opinions: crunchy, moist, sweet, salty, nutty, dry, bland. They were even jokingly described as “rabbit food” (Pro-tip: a little internet research tells me that rabbits shouldn’t eat grains, but sunflower seeds can be a rare treat.)
What mainly attracted me was not the ingredients or the price (though that was great too), was the whimsical sailor on the packaging. I am not above kid-style marketing tactics like bright colors and cartoon characters, though coincidentally, I dislike Froot Loops and Trix (Golden Grahams 4 life). After checking out their website, Somersaults has a different character for each packaging: Sailor (Pacific Sea Salt), Pirate (Salty Pepper), Cowboy (Santa Fe Salsa) and Crazy Ass Chef with checkerboard pants chocolate frosting all over his face (Dutch Cocoa). They’re pretty much the Village People of nut-free snacks, though I shudder to think what flavor the Construction Worker would be.
The quarter-sized nuggets are much more condensed that their chips and crackers counterparts, so they can’t be dipped in anything, but are more suitable for just popping in your mouth. I’d compare them to the energy bar of snacks in regards to their consistency. Despite the popular notion that “healthy” snacks are generally tasteless, bland, etc. I actually quite enjoyed them. Thank goodness the bag was only two ounces (they also come in six-ounce zip bags) or I would have been mindless eating them until who knows when, though they have three grams of fiber per ounce, so I suppose my digestive system would be pleased/shocked.
I’m gonna keep an eye out for the other flavors, but the salt is a nice touch to a snack that already tastes pretty good to me. If you’re looking for a nutty snack minus the nuts, a tasty nugget that’s also vegan or just an alternative to your Doritos/Funyuns/uncooked ramen block, I’d suggest picking up a little bag. Possibly try out the Dutch Cocoa if you’re looking for something sweet (though I haven’t tried it).
Tags: Salt, Sunflower Seeds, Vegan, Wheat
