If you are considering a vegetarian lifestyle or simply want to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your family’s diet, these healthy vegetarian snacks can give you a tasty transition.
Joshua Rosenthal, author of Integrative Nutrition: Feeding your hunger for health and happiness, says that food prepared at home by a loving person has a different nutritional effect than the exact same food prepared elsewhere.
“When we eat our mother’s or grandmother’s cooking, there is love in the food and care in its preparation, which creates a higher quality of love and energy,” explains Rosenthal. You may already feel that way about your substantial sit-down family meals, but every meal, including snacks, can be made with love.
Rosenthal recommends these quick-to-fix, yet satisfying, vegetarian snacks for you and your family, whether they come in handy for road trips or active afternoon treks to the park.
Healthy Vegetarian Snacks
Print out this list and keep it on your refrigerator. Make snacks the day before so they are ready to go when you hit the road or need healthy homemade food - fast!
1. Baked yam chips. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thinly slice sweet potatoes or yams and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through and crisp.
2. Carrot sticks with hummus. Rosenthal recommends making your own hummus, rather than store-bought varieties full of preservatives. In a food processor, puree a can of rinsed garbanzo beans with fresh lemon juice, fresh herbs, minced garlic (to taste) and other spices you enjoy. Add a little water or extra virgin olive oil to thin the hummus to your desired consistency.
3. Edamame. You can find edamame or soybeans in the frozen food section - in the pod or shelled. Simply thaw or quick boil and serve with a light sprinkling of sea salt.
4. Granola. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss rolled oats, nuts, and dried fruit with honey and a little vegetable oil and spread on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until ingredients are crunchy. Pair granola with cottage cheese and yogurt.
5. Mochi. Unless you are familiar with Japanese cuisine, you may have never heard of mochi. It is a traditional Japanese treat like puff pastry but made with cooked, pureed rice and contains no wheat or flour. Mochi is found in the refrigerator section of whole foods stores and comes in both sweet and savory flavors.
6. Rice cakes with nut butter. Add a little crunch to your afternoon by munching on crispy rice cakes spread with almond butter or good old peanut butter. The protein in the nut butter will give you a nice energy boost.
7. Organic fresh fruit. This is a given and, with so many wonderful fruits in season during spring and summer, you can make an afternoon of going to the local farm stand, farmer’s market, or natural food store to stock up on ripe, juicy fruits.
8. Ball of nuts. In a blender, add equal amounts of dates (soak dates in hot water to soften), rolled oats, almonds, sesame seeds, apple juice, brown rice syrup, and poppy seeds and blend until mixture is made up of small chunks. Use your fingers to form little balls and refrigerate until ready to eat.
9. Guacamole with jicama sticks. Puree avocado, red onion, tomato, seeded jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice and sea salt until chunky. Peel a jicama and cut into batons.
10. Ants on a log. A fun snack for your kids, fill celery sticks with almond butter, cashew butter or peanut butter and dot with dried blueberries or raisins.
With these snacks, you or your kids will never have to go hungry or grab junk food!
Article by: Michele Thompson
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