It’s easy enough to grab a piece of fruit, some carrot sticks or other raw veggie, trail mix, string cheese, Fig Newtons, air-popped popcorn, baked potato or tortilla chips, granola bars, fruit leather, dried fruit (try to get sulfur-free), nuts, frozen fruit bars, fudgesicles or yogurt, but if you crave something a bit more substantial, try one of these easy, quick suggestions:
Baked tortilla chips with purchased bean dip.
Spinach Pitza – microwave some frozen spinach, squeeze out the water, toss it onto a pita, top with a few tomato slices, sprinkle on some soy or parmesan cheese if you'd like, pop under the broiler for a minute or so to brown the cheese or warm through, cut into slices and eat. You can substitute any leftover cooked or frozen veggie you have on hand for the spinach such as chopped broccoli, zucchini, kale, etc.
Sweet Sweet Potato – pierce a sweet potato with a fork a few times, microwave on high for 10 to 15 minutes (turning every 2 minutes or so if your microwave doesn’t have a carousel) until tender, slit open, pour on a bit of maple syrup, sprinkle with cinnamon and enjoy.
Marinated chickpeas – maybe I’m a bit odd (oh OK, I AM a bit odd!) but I love to snack on chickpeas that have been marinating in my homemade raspberry vinaigrette. If you don’t like making your own dressing, just buy a good bottled brand. Take a can of chickpeas, drain and rinse them, put them in a small bowl, add a diced celery stalk, a diced carrot and a diced red pepper. Pour on about ΒΌ cup (more or less to your taste) vinaigrette dressing (use fat-free or reduced fat if you prefer), season to taste with salt and pepper, stir it all up and let it sit in the fridge a while, overnight is best, but even 30 minutes of marinating is enough to make them tasty. While they are marinating, toss them around in the dressing occasionally if you remember to.
Dip pita triangles, bread sticks or pretzels into hummus, baba ganoush, peanut butter or a dab of Nutella.
