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Nasoya Nayonaise & NayoWhipped Sandwich Spread Review (& Some Recipes)

When I was growing up there were two distinct camps: the Mayonnaise camp (in my neck of the woods, Hellman’s brand) and the Salad Dressing camp (Miracle Whip). It all depended on what your mom used on the sandwiches she made and in our house, mom used Hellman’s. No-way-no-how those of us in the Hellman’s camp wanted our tuna salad or bologna, cheese and potato chip (yes, chips ON the sandwich) sangies to have even a hint of sweetness! And if your best friend’s mom used Miracle Whip, well, that could mean the quick demise of a beautiful friendship.

Just cuz I’m a plant-based sandwich-eater now doesn’t mean I’ve lost my love of mayo and Nasoya has both types represented – the savory and the sweet. I recently received a couple of bottles to try out. While both products are creamy, thick, and ringers for the “real” things, my taste preference holds true today. I really prefer a “mayo” spread that is savory rather than sweet. But I did use both products with very tasty results.

Here’s a look at NayoWhipped and Nayonaise:

Here’s what’s in them:
Soy milk
Soybean oil
Vinegar
Salt
Dried cane syrup
Mustard flour
Xanthan gum
Guar gum
Lemon juice
Turmeric
Paprika
Garlic Powder
Vitamin B12

For inspiration, I visited the Nasoya website for ideas and made several things, riffing on the original recipes. First up is a classic that reminds me of the best egg-salad-sandwich-maker in the whole wide world, my mom.

Bean & Tofu Nada-Egg Salad Sandwiches
Makes 4

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
7 oz. firm tofu, pressed, drained, and crumbled
3 stalks celery, chopped
5-6 sweet gherkins, chopped
5-6 green olives, chopped
thick slice red onion, chopped
lots of ground black pepper
pinch salt
1 tsp. dried dill weed
~1 cup Nayonaise

4 big biscuits, cut in half (or 8 slices of bread)
A handful of sprouts

In a large bowl, mash the garbanzo beans – don’t go crazy, leave some big pieces – and add the remaining ingredients. Stir it all together and let it chill for a little while.

Delicious on bread, of course, or on top of a big pile of chopped romaine lettuce with slices of avocado on top and plenty of raw tortilla chips on the side.

One of my favorite ways to use mayo is in a super-quick aioli and I whipped up a batch to go on top of pinto bean burgers. The creaminess of the mayo and the tang of chipotle, garlic and lemon complemented the smokey southwestern flavors beautifully. This would also be great as a dip for sweet potato fries.

Spicy-Lemony Aioli
Makes 1/4 cup (2 servings)

1/4 cup Nayonaise
1/2 tsp. chipotle in adobo (chopped or processed until smooth)
1 small clove garlic, minced
zest of 1/2 a lemon

Combine all of the ingredients. Let chill in the refrigerator for a few hours so the flavors blend.

How did I use the NayoWhipped? In the super-moist muffins pictured below – again, a recipe based on one posted on the Nasoya site. I’m really pleased with how they turned out. The spread replaces the traditional fat and I think works a bit like using yogurt. These smell so good while baking.

So, whether you were a Hellman’s girl like me or whether you craved that sweet-tang of Miracle Whip, there is a creamy, rich cruelty-free, vegan alternative that will make your sandwiches (and your muffins!) very yummy indeed.

Applesauce Banana Muffins
Makes 8 giant ones

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. powdered stevia
1/4 tsp. salt
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup NayoWhipped Sandwich Spread
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
3/4 cup pecans, chopped

Lightly oil muffin tins and preheat the oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, stevia and salt. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the banana, applesauce, Sandwich Spread and vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture and stir until combined – then gently stir in the chips and pecans.

Spoon batter into eight of the greased muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack. Devour while still warm. These freeze well.

PB2: Powdered Peanut Butter

When I started researching stocking my pantry, I ran across a reference to powdered peanut butter. Images of astronaut food and hikers came to mind, but the idea of having a very shelf-stable product appealed to me. And then I read a description of what reconstituted peanut butter tasted like. I’d sooner help myself to a bowl of wet cement. I mean, I’d be happy to have it during a nuclear winter, but, I wasn’t tempted just yet to load the pantry shelves with it. So I gave up on that particular idea and decided to stock up on the jarred variety instead. Its shelf life is pretty decent and in our household, there would never be a problem of rotating the jars – we consume the stuff too fast.

And then PB2 brand powdered peanut butter was profiled in my April 2012 issue of Nutrition Action Healthletter that gave it a rave review and I knew I had to give this product a try. Amazon.com had a deal where you could get the regular peanut butter powder, plus a peanut butter-chocolate powder and a small bag of peanut butter “thins” for what seemed like a reasonable price – it’s not a cheap way to buy peanut butter, however. (Whole Foods sells it or you can purchase directly from the company.) I just got the products a few days ago. Since I’m always on the lookout for ways to reduce artery-clogging fat from our diet, these powdered products were especially appealing – because they have less calories from fat than jarred peanut butter (16g of fat in 2 tbsp. of the jarred natural peanut butter I currently use compared with 1.5g for the same serving size of PB2. Wow.). The amount of sugar (1g per 2 tbsp. – the same as the jarred stuff) is pretty decent.

The powders come from Bell Plantation (they also sell peanut oil) which has a pretty impressive website with tons of recipes and detailed nutritional information about their products. Here’s part of why this product would be appealing to people like me who are trying to eat healthier and who are cutting down fat in their diets:

…our special process removes 85% of the fat calories without the chemicals typically used in producing reduced fat foods. Something else you won’t find in PB2 is preservatives.

So I spent the morning messing around with the powders and my camera. The powder smells good and has a nice, soft consistency. It was quite easy to stir together and it smoothed out nicely. The finished product looks just like what you’d scoop out of a jar. I even added roasted peanuts to one batch. The chocolate version was thinner than the peanut butter one, but adding a little bit more of the powder thickened it up. If you’re wondering about the (tiny!) peanut butter cookies/crackers, I found them ridiculously sweet. I might turn them into a pie crust base, however. Peanut butter chocolate creme pie??

Roasted, chopped unsalted peanuts.

PB2 with roasted peanuts.

This is all well and good, right? But does it taste like wet cement? Happily, no. Not even close. However…I also didn’t detect a whole lot of peanut butter flavor. Eating it made me want to scoop up a big spoonful from my jar of peanut butter and snarf it down. As for the chocolate peanut butter, it was kind of the same issue. Not much chocolate flavor, not much peanut flavor. And there was just something…off about the texture of both spreads. Obviously fat adds flavor and it adds creaminess. Is PB2 acceptable? Yea, sure. It is great to have in the pantry and certainly for traveling it would work quite well. And if one is looking to shave fat calories… Will I use it every day? No. Despite my love of peanut butter, I keep consumption to a minimum, so I’m not too worried about the fat content. What I really want is delicious, nutty peanut butter.

I am curious about baking with it. As I mentioned, Bell Plantation has a whole heck of a lot of recipes on their site. It’s probably worth baking with both products – or trying them in smoothies – for a more complete taste test. What do you say, fellow food-bloggers? Want to see if we can come up with some delicious recipes using these products??

2 tbsp. PB2 Powder + 1 tbsp. water = peanut butter

1 tbsp. water + 2 tbsp. chocolate PB2 Powder = chocolate peanut butter

anunrefinedvegan

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Nasoya Nayonaise & NayoWhipped Sandwich Spread Review (& Some Recipes)

PB2: Powdered Peanut Butter

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