Use This Formula to Make a “Healthy” Snack You’ll Really Want to Eat
We are halfway to February, the month when resolve wanes and resolutions are abandoned. Even if you started the year with better eating habits, bad weather, a chocolate-focused holiday, and life can derail those best meal plans.
Whether you need help getting back on track, or just need inspiration for healthy snacks, the lovely folks at Martha Stewart have a handy formula for the perfect snack: “Pair a fruit or vegetable with protein, then add a pinch of delicious snacks.” taste.”
If you think about it, you can see why classic snacks like ants on a log, hummus, and carrots are so popular: Protein helps you feel full, while the plant-based portion helps you feel good . However, I would like to emphasize the importance of fat.
Adding (healthy) fat (obviously) makes the snack more palatable, but also makes it taste fuller. Fat is combined with protein and plant foods and helps you feel not only full, but also satisfied.
Martha and her friends have several suggestions for this combination (and you should go to her website to read them), but I took the liberty of offering a few of my own (because this is my work):
- Cottage cheese + cherry tomato halves + a dash of olive oil + bagel seasoning
- Hard boiled egg + butter cube + pickled cauliflower
- Blanched asparagus wrapped in turkey + dipping pesto
- Pear slices + marscapone cheese + crunchy granola
- Cucumber slices + hummus + feta + zaatar
- Plain yogurt + fried vegetables + chili chips + spiced and toasted nuts
- Apple slices + ricotta + honey + candied pecans
…and so on and so forth.
In addition to the protein + plant + fat + flavor format, consider the texture of your snack when preparing it. A little crunch can go a long way and keep your mouth interested, even if the snack you’re eating is “for your health.”