elisabethdonnelly asked: A question that I think you (and your book) could answer in your infinite wisdom - what would you recommend for a 3pm snack, something that's full of protein and lacking, hopefully, in too much sugar and fat? That's the time of day I get very stupid and eat like an animal, don't you?
These are some of my favorite snacks! I realize that some of them are made possible by the fact that I work mostly from home.
- TOAST is my go-to snack. I eat it in the afternoon with olive oil or butter, with almond butter + jelly, with a couple pieces of cheese + grainy mustard, or a little smear of ricotta + drizzle of honey + sprinkle of flaky salt for fanciness.
- A HARD-BOILED EGG, which, most of the time, I cut in half lengthwise and sprinkle with smoked paprika.
- ROASTED CHICK-PEAS: These probably would have slid right past me if my friend Izzy wasn’t obsessed with garbonzo beans. Here’s the jist of making them. They’re also good, as she has noted, when you’re putting together a salad bar for an at-home date night.
- KALE CHIPS, which honestly I don’t think are as special as other people do because I have a fondness for kale in its non-crisp state, but here’s one way to make them.
- DIPS PLUS CRUDITES. I like dips in the afternoon. I still enjoy my Feta and Radish Dip a lot, even if it seems weird—I use it for pita triangles, or carrot or celery sticks, etc. I also especially love this product called Faux Gras, which is so scrumptious it defies its off-putting name. And then there’s hummus, nut butters, tzatziki, white bean dip, all of which are very simple to make at home.
- BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE WITH A DAB OF BALSAMIC VINEGAR ON IT. You’d never guess that I learned this one at the Fancy Food Show.
- YOGURT? Probably a no-brainer, but just, say, a heaping spoonful of good plain yogurt over a diced up apple and then a dusting of cinnamon is still really good.
- EDAMAME SALAD—the one with the sesame oil and sesame seeds and, if I remember correctly, little strips of nori is the only thing that’s got me to return to the Whole Foods salad bar. A little bit goes a long way. I feel like a recipe might look something like this.
- TOMATO JUICE. A few years ago I worked on this book Slow Love and in it the author references a V8 diet—her doctor instructs her to drink V8 exclusively, to carry it around in her purse. I have no idea why it appealed to me, but it did. Tomato juice and other vegetable juice blends—it obviously doesn’t necessarily have to specifically be the V8 brand—are filling and easy to have on hand (though watch out for salt levels, if that’s a concern).
- POPCORN. Cheapest, easiest, most lightweight. I drizzle mine with olive oil and sprinkle it with some kind of seasoned salt—right now it’s the “crack salt” in this recipe, but in the past it’s been cumin salt, or whatever dry herb blend I have lying around + salt.
I’m willing to bet there are a bunch of other ideas out there, too …
