The wonders of sun butter

May 14, 2007 at 7:09 pm (Product Reviews, Quick weeknight recipe)

Sun butter, or sunbutter, is just what it sounds like… something rich and delicious that brightens your day immeasurably with just a single spoonful. Ok, well, yes, actually it’s just ground up sunflower seeds, but that doesn’t even begin to convey how good this stuff is. I’m not a big sunflower seed fan myself, shelled or unshelled, but that doesn’t stop me from lovin’ on this sunbutter. The brand I bought at Whole Foods in Chicago (on recommendation from Derek’s choir director James) is Sungold natural sunbutter, creamy. It has a touch of sugar added, but only 1.5g sugar per Tbs, which isn’t much at all. It’s high in vitamin E, magnesium, and copper, and a good source of zinc and niacin. It has only slightly less protein than peanut butter–3.5g per Tbs (13%) versus 4g (16%) . I highly recommend trying it! Of course, I can’t find the Sungold brand in Montreal, so once my jar is up I’m going to try the local Canadian brand and report back.

For all you peanut and nut allergy types, the Sungold sunbutter is processed in a peanut free and nut free facility. Plus, it’s yummier than peanut butter (I would argue, my mom and Derek disagree).

Addendum: I know all my loyal readers (all three of you) are wondering where all the new recipes are, and I confess that finishing my thesis, moving to a new country, and finding a place to live have sadly taken precedence over cooking. I’ve been living on Optimum cereal, hemp seeds, and Commensal frozen dinners for the last 2 weeks. Yesterday for dinner I went all out cooking and had a delicious Canadian kamut tortilla spread with sun butter and “grilled” on my cast iron pan. Yummy, but not quite worth entering as a recipe, alas. Tonight I’m making my old standby–caraway rutabaga soup, plus I put on a pot of brown rice and cut up raw veggies, so there should be some real cooking happening later in the week! I’m going to make my ginger garlic dressing from the coop days. Did I ever post that recipe here? If not, look forward to it later in the week.

Update 08/2007: My friend bought me a jar of organic Once Again sunflower seed butter as a present. Thanks Katrina! It’s not quite as tasty as the Sungold sunbutter, a bit too salty I think, but it’s still better than the one I’ve gotten in Montreal. For lunch today I spread sun butter on a lightly toasted whole what tortilla, then covered it in cucumber slices, folded it in half and ate it like a sandwich. It was a bit odd, but surprisingly tasty.