nākd review and giveaway!

What can I say? In this instance, the cliche rang true; nākd had me at "hello." I mean: truly, what better way to receive a box of samples than with this greeting?

Followed up with this one: "Eat, share, blog!" 
This is how a community works together to share compassionate eats, my friends.

nākd bars are made by Natural Balance Foods, a "predominantly UK based health food company who produce a wide-variety of vegan snacks." They were kind enough to send me a generous assortment of their nākd raw fruit and nut bars for review. Currently they’re not available to buy from stores in the US but you can purchase them online. As of this writing, there are excellent deals on samplers and free shipping to the US!

The first thing I noticed was that the bars were a nice size: substantial enough to not leave you hungry before you even opened the wrapper (Bean problems).

I began my taste-test rather unconventionally: with the strawberry crunch. I was immediately impressed by the density of the bar and of the fact that it did not have any of the oily residue I've come to expect from other, similar bars. The flavor reminded me of a healthy version of strawberry pop-tart filling and the soya crunchies were really satisfying.

The packaging boasts the simple ingredients in large font along with quirky and relate-able text such as, "gleefully made in Britain."

I especially loved their exquisitely appropriate use of the word "smooshed."

 

Next up was the caffe mocha on a day when it was too snowy to venture outdoors for a coffee. The bar packed a really nice caffeinated punch, although I thought the chocolate was understated enough to miss.

Pecan pie (italics mine) was a bit of a stretch when you're used to this, but you can't ever really go wrong with pecans.

 

I was, surprisingly, not a fan of the cocoa delight.

But, the cocoa crunch was a winner in my book (those soya crunchies are stellar and should be in everything).

Again, the "cookie" in cashew cookie was a bit of a stretch, but this was one of my favorite overall flavors of the bunch.

Perhaps most flavorful bar I tasted was the very berry, berry delight.

Can someone explain this one to me? I think that rhubarb & custard might be a British thing.

I have to admit that I was a little overwhelmed by my nākd supply and ate more than my fair share in a very short window of time. That, coupled with the fact that Natural Balance Foods was so overwhelmingly generous, was my inspiration for saving some for a small, informal giveaway!

If the flavors shown below float your boat, please enter below by telling me what your favorite thing to eat is when you're not eating a "yummy raw fruit & nut bar." Winner will be chosen at random. Open to US residents only. Contest ends February 6, 2015 and winners will be notified via email (remember to include!). UPDATE 2/6/15: winner announced in the comments!

For street cred and cool points only: let me know how I sometimes wittily refer to my well-dressed, numbered dog that ties into the name of this product.

Good luck!