NYC Healthy Bites

Recently, I was invited to an event at Garmento Lab to showcase a few healthy ways to eat. One of the products there was Pop Chips – which I’ve blogged about in the past –  and a coconut water company. I obviously avoided the coconut water (had no interest in dying, thanks! – allergic) – but I was surprised to find that Pop Chips has a new flavor: Sweet Potato!  I didn’t manage to try them that night, but funny enough, a week later my good friend TC gave me a large bag of them ‘just because’. Though they were sweeter than I prefer my crunchy snacks be (I love salty, crunchy snacks), the taste was like the best mashed sweet potato with maple syrup, but CRUNCHY. Definitely will work that into my regular rotation, though they won’t be the first I reach for, they are definitely unique and delicious.

(BTW – to all my readers who complain that I use initials too much, I could spell out what they stand for. Would you all prefer that? No, seriously, I get that complaint a LOT. But guess what? TC IS HIS NAME. EAT THAT. Anyway, if you prefer spelled out nicknames, comment and let me know.)

The other company there, serving up delicious healthy bites for us to try, was NYC Healthy Bites. A mobile truck that parks up near Columbia University most weekdays and by Union Square on most weekends (follow them on Twitter for exact locations!), they offer something fairly unique: organic and natural foods, no artificial ingredients or additives, with super toppings and interesting combinations.

That day we had our choice of a few different types served on a whole wheat bun. Since I um, had dinner plans afterwards, I asked them to do an organic beef hot dog half and half so I could try two different ways – the Diablo dog on the left (diced tomatoes, onions and spicy cilantro sauce), and Greek on the right (tomatoes, diced onions, cucumbers, olives, feta and yogurt garlic sauce).  I really enjoyed the spicy cilantro sauce, though I wonder what makes it so creamy – I make my own cilantro sauce that is olive oil based, and possibly less calories than this one if it’s mayo-based… but it was super tasty.  The Greek had a little too much feta for me – cheese is super high in calories, so if you’re looking to cut calories, you may want to ask them to hold some of the cheese… There were definitely too many raw onions in there for me – my breath was pretty horrible! and they were VERY messy to eat! but overall… the main takeaway…

I couldn’t tell these were organic hot dogs. I felt like I was eating a regular dog, but topped with so many things that honestly, even if it’d been the worst hot dog in the world, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell.  They were very tasty – and I like that all the toppings are made by NYC Healthy Bites.  Prices run from $3.50 for a basic hot dog, $4.50 for a specialty dog, up to $6.50 for vegan burgers.  I think it’s worth checking out if eating vegan and/or organic while on the go is important to you, but I’m not sure it fits my lifestyle personally.

Oh, and the tzatziki they make to top the Greek dog with is really good too. Mmm… I want to know what’s in that and in the spicy cilantro sauce!

Please note that I attended this event as a member of the press and received no monetary compensation to post about this, positively or negatively, and was under no obligation to do so. This is pretty obviously my unadulterated opinion.