Follow Your Heart Vegenaise for American Heart Month

As a kid, I ate as little meat as possible, never drank milk, and couldn't figure out what an egg was so I didn't want to eat it.  I did, however, eat more than my fair share of American cheese and mayonnaise sandwiches (cognitive dissonance)- until I saw a show on tv that showed how mayonnaise was made.  The seemingly inexplicable emulsification transformation of the already suspect eggs was both mesmerizing and disgusting, so I switched back to pb&j for good. 

Fast forward to the arrival of Follow Your Heart Vegenaise in the refrigerated section of my local supermarket some years ago.  Even though it's a vegan product, my innate distaste for the original made me cautious.  But once I tried, I was hooked.  Since then, I've gotten more than a few (vegan) friends and (non-vegan) family and co-workers hooked as well.  This is an example of the large jar of original that is consistently in residence in my fridge. 

It's always more empty than full because I will build full meals around the condiment.

 

When Vegenaise expanded their product line to include other gourmet flavors to their existing repertoire of mayo variations, I quickly tried the tartar sauce variety.  I found an excuse to eat it every night in a week and finished the jar before I knew what had happened.

So when I was recently contacted on behalf of Follow Your Heart to sample some of the rest of the product line in honor of American Heart Month, I did not hesitate to participate.  As a vegan, cholesteral-free, egg-free mayo (also low sodium, non-GMO, dairy-free, and gluten-free), Vegenaise is not only better than mayo, it's better for you, and better for animals.  As if all that's not enough, it's also made with solar power!

"With American Heart Month just around the corner, we would like to introduce your readers to Follow Your Heart Vegenaise^® - the original cholesterol-free, egg-free mayonnaise with a taste that¹s Better Than Mayo.

Vegenaise makes it possible to enjoy favorite sandwiches, dips, and slaws with the same great mayonnaise taste, but with no cholesterol. Follow Your Heart has been producing this great tasting, low sodium, non-GMO mayonnaise alternative for over 40 years. In addition to being cholesterol free, Vegenaise is made with heart-healthy oils, rich in essential fatty acids such as omega 3s. 

Available in five varieties ­ Original, Reduced Fat, Grapeseed Oil, Organic, and Soy-Free ­ fresh Vegenaise can be found in the refrigerated section of grocery stores across the country."

I received quite a generous package of Vegenaise, as well as Follow Your Heart swag (I really needed that perfect-sized spatula in my life!) and couldn't wait to give these new-to-me varieties a try.

This spatula rules!

So nosy:

I dug into the chipotle Vegenaise gourmet first, which was both good and bad. 

Good because, well, this should be put on everything!  It tastes divine and there are actual, visible chilies in there.  Bad because, well, I did put it on everything and, once again, finished the jar all too quickly.

What can I say?  It tastes incredible and is really versatile; you can use it on sandwiches, of course, but it also makes a great dip for fresh veggies, pretzels...whatever.

It's also pretty fancy, so it makes you do crazy things like putting roasted Brussels' sprouts on your veggie burger.  Sprouts or no, I shall never eat another burger unless I have chipotle Vegenaise on hand to kick it up a few notches.

As soon as I could tear myself away Once the chipotle jar was empty, next up I decided to try the soy-free Vegenaise.

I admit that as a regular consumer of soy I hadn't even realized that the original Vegenaise contained any, but it does.

In my opinion, the soy-free has almost the same flavor as the original: with a lighter, airier texture.  See how it pulls away cleanly from the jar?  I don't know that it means anything in terms of taste, but it's an example of the textural difference from the original.

It's possible that it's slightly less rich, but it tasted just fine on my Tofurky sammie.

Then I tried the grapeseed oil Vegenaise.

I found this version to be a little smoother, a little thinner, and perhaps slightly more decadent than both the soy-free and the original.

In the interest of fairness, I gave it a whirl on the exact same sandwich concoction as I'd tried the soy-free.

The only difference I could discern between this version and the original was that I'd describe the original as creamier, while this one was slightly oilier (in a wholly non-greasy way); it was delish.

For the record, although my taste-test has concluded, there is still Vegenaise left in the fridge.

You'll be impressed no matter which variety of Vegenaise you choose as you're favorite.  And by doing so, you make every month heart-healthy: for everyone involved.