Day 280 - Whole Roasted Cashews

Overall, I do not think I have raved enough on this blog about Trader Joe’s nut and dried fruit aisle.  It is THE BOMB.  If you have a nut need, Trader Joe’s can (likely) solve it.  They have eveeeerything!  Mixes.  Raw.  Roasted.  Sliced.  Whole.  Etc, etc, etc.  You could spend an hour just staring at the dried fruits, trail mixes, and nuts.  They take up a WHOLE AISLE people!  Not a little squished section between cake mixes and bags of sugar like in other grocery stores.  Trader Joe’s does this department right.

That being said, I have never been a cashew fan.  To me, cashews have always tasted OILY.  And mealy.  And, well, just yucky.  I have never met a cashew I really liked.  Which is why I never eat them.  So when we got this bag I figured this would be a DAVID ONLY review.  I didn’t want to bias it with my “cashew hating self”. 

Then I tried one.

And for the first time I can remember in my life I LIKED A CASHEW!  So I tried another.  And I liked it.  Repeat repeat repeat until I had eaten lots of cashews!

Ahhh the NUT AISLE at Trader Joe's...  Heaven for nut and dried fruit lovers

Originally these were David’s treat, so he decided he wanted to ROAST THEM more than they already were.  He said they were "lightly roasted" and he wanted MORE.  I sort of think it is because he likes the act of ROASTING them.  It is sort of “zen” to him I think.  He is a very loving roaster.  I think his gentle care and roasting of these is what made them taste so good to me.  He also roasts slivered almonds (which may get reviewed before the year is out) and enjoys roasting granola, too.  I guess, at heart, he is a roaster.  I am glad he roasted these, because if he hadn’t I doubt I would have enjoyed them.

Here are some of the cashews after being lovingly roasted by David.  Don't they look happy and well cared for?

Here is what David said about these cashews:  “These are very good.  Nice.  I am not sure what the comparative pricing is but this is a big bag so it has a “big price tag”.  (Editor’s note – see pricing info below.)  The cashews are very nice.  I personally prefer them a bit more roasted and a little bit more salty than they have here right from the bag.  So I roasted them a bit myself and they are fabulous and delicious!  I added salt when I roasted them but I do not think it “took”.  I think when they roast them, to make the salt adhere they spray on a salt and water solution so the water gets ABSORBED and the salt crystals stick.”

But after another taste (we HAD to, for the sake of this blog…) we both agreed that David’s salt to nut mixture was near ‘bout perfect.

Look - he was caressing them even before he put them in the cart!  He loves cashews.

The bag claims these are WHOLE CASHEWS and that is absolutely 100% correct.  Other cans/jars/bags of cashews sometime say “whole cashews” but contain broken bits.  These were big, meaty, whole cashews.  High quality.

As far as pricing goes, I think they are really well priced.  I have not done enough comparison shopping in brick and mortar stores to make that claim, but let’s look around a bit online, shall we?

·         A site called Piping Rock.com, whose tag line is, “Always the Best for Less”, is apparently lying,       because they have a 1 lb bag for $9.49 (plus shipping)

·         A site called Nuts.com (I mean, THEY have to have good prices, right?  With a name like that?)         is charging $10.99/lb

·         And on “The Peanut Shop” (which categories cashews as “other nuts”) they price them at $27.99         for an 18 oz tin

HEY!  Beyond pricing, check out what nuts.com had to say about the HEALTH BENEFITS of eating nuts!  “A 2013 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine examined 76,464 women and 42,498 men and found that consumption of nuts such as cashews was inversely associated with total and cause-specific mortality. The study also found that eating nuts regularly can stave off weight gain. Previous studies have indicated that the high nutrient content of unsaturated fats, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals in nuts may help reduce the risk for chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.” 

There you have it – eating these puppies will make you skinnier, healthier, and help you live longer.  What more can you ask for, people???

All I can say is:  KEEP EATING NUTS, DAVID!  I want you to be healhy and live a really long time!

Since David is the expert I, of course, asked him for his rating of these cashews first.  He gave them a 4.5 and I am happy to support that.  In fact, now that I see how the price seems to rate compared to other retailers, I am bumping that rating up a bit!!  If you like cashews these are really good. 

Price – $6.99 (16 oz)

Rating – 4.75