Tasty Tuesday: Bohana Popped Water Lily Seeds
It’s been a while since my last Tasty Tuesday, so I thought I’d bring it back today! It’s not like I haven’t been getting my Tuesday snack in, so why not? I’m going to try to get back in the habit of posting these every Tuesday. Please hold me to it, people!
I first learned about Bohana Popped Water Lily Seeds from my first ever Expo East. This is a woman-owned company that participated in a BINGO challenge, and they were on my BINGO board, so I paid their booth a visit. And boy, am I glad I did. These snacks are SO GOOD!
When I first heard of popped water lily seeds, I thought, that doesn’t sound right. I wasn’t even sure what it meant, but I knew that it was something I had never heard of before! Of course, once I saw a booth with them, I couldn’t stop seeing booths with them! It’s sort of like how I had never heard of oat milk a few years ago, and now it seems like everyone makes oat milk these days. But I digress.
There are a ton of health benefits contained within these popped water lily seeds, which doesn’t make me feel bad about crushing a serving or two (being honest)! Newsweek published this article last year about popped lily seeds (also known as makhana), noting their popularity, health benefits, and even some of the brands that have helped popularize them in the U.S. health food industry. The Washington Post described popped lotus and water lily seeds as one of their “10 Food Trends You’re About to Start Seeing Everywhere,” including Bohana on their list.
I like them because they’re low calorie, gluten-free snacks that pack 3g of plant protein in each serving. To me, they taste a lot like popcorn and are just a tiny bit denser than popcorn. They currently come in three flavors: Himalayan Pink Salt, Soulful Spice, and Wild White Cheddar. Can you guess which one is my favorite flavor?
The Bohana flavors are all tasty, but of course, the Wild Cheddar Cheese is my favorite. Duh. Between the other two flavors? Honestly, I like them all. It’s just a great snack!
Other reasons to like them?
- They’re a woman-owned company with a mission to produce a high-quality product in a sustainable manner.
- They were featured on How I Built This with Guy Raz by NPR. It’s only a 4-minute segment, but it’s pretty cool to hear how they got started. Also, I love that show.
- Bohana also made an appearance on Shark Tank and did pretty well!
- I received some cool swag at their booth as part of the Women-Owned Businesses at Expo East BINGO Challenge!
- They are all the “frees” as I like to say: corn-free, gluten-free, grain-free, 8 allergen-free, vegan, Kosher, etc. You can see the full list here.
