A couple of years ago I came across and wrote about Danielle Dietz-LiVolsi, a North County mom and entrepreneur who created the nutrient-rich spread Nuttzo after adopting two boys from Ukraine who were malnourished and vitamin deficient. In that time, not only has LiVolsi created a nonprofit called Project Left Behind, to provide education and living essentials to orphans, she’s developed some new varieties of Nuttzo.
If you haven’t come across Nuttzo, it’s like crunchy peanut butter, only on steroids, with a variety of nuts and seeds, including cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, Hazelnuts, Chia seeds, flax seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Two of the varieties have peanuts, one—NuttZo NP—doesn’t, although it is made in a facility that also processes peanuts.
These rich spreads are a complete protein and filled with Omega 3 ALAs (alpha-linolenic acid), which are the heart-friendly fatty acids. They’re organic, contain no sugar, and are vegan and kosher.
Now, certainly, as with peanut butter, it’s perfect spooned out of the jar, but also like peanut butter, NuttZo can be an ingredient in baking and cooking. In fact, the NuttZo website is filled with recipes, some of which I’ll mention below.
You can purchase NuttZo online but also at Sprouts, Windmill Farms in Del Cerro, Keil’s Foods in La Mesa, and Good on Ya Deli in Kearny Mesa.
NuttZo spreads
NuttZo Original
This variety has peanuts, along with cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, hazelnuts, and sea salt. Perfect, of course, between two slices of bread with a little jelly, but how about creating a NuttZo cookie or pancakes, NuttZo bars or, hey, dog treats? Why not create an Asian-style sauce for chicken satay or noodles, mixing it with soy sauce, fish sauce, peanut oil, ginger, vinegar, chile powder, and garlic? $12.95 a jar
NuttZo NP/PF
This is similar to the original but sans peanuts. Here we have almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, hazelnuts, and sea salt. How about a NuttZo Orange Julius or Super Power Oatmeal? I’m intrigued by the Strawberry Oatmeal Parfait and the Super Bowl Popcorn Crunch. $19.99 a jar
Chocolate NuttZo
Here’s the newest NuttZo variety. It does include peanuts and also 70 percent dark chocolate, so along with the seeds and nuts, there are organic chocolate chips that include a smidge of can sugar. How about adding to s’mores or creating a braided bread using puff pastry, add to muffins or make chocolate nut cookies? $12.99 a jar
