Thinking outside the lunchbox

What pops into your head when you hear the words "snack food"?

Chips? A cookie? Hunk of cake? Perhaps a wedge of cheese? Or in these health-frenzied times, maybe a piece of fruit, handful of nuts or a rice cake?

As an example of what else is possible, here's something I recently prepared for a mid-afternoon treat.

"Homemade chicken-fingers?" comes the yell from the living room. "Sheer genius!" (This care of my partner, Fred, appointing himself rep for cavemen everywhere.)

Think I'll string Fred along for a bit, keep him believing this little concoction cost me a pile of effort. In reality, preparation was easy peasy.

The key? When cooking chicken parmesan (or comparable dish of steak or pork), merely toss an extra portion or two into the pan. Of course, many folk already do this to have an extra meal on hand. But seriously, why not sizzle up extras to use for snacks?

The rest is simple:

• allow chicken to cool
• slice
• thread onto wooden skewers (optional)
• pack pieces (or mini shishkabobs) in storage container or ziplock bag.

Presto, one high-protein, tasty, low-cost snack. Ready to go.

Serving up slabs of meat as a snack? Now that's thinking outside the lunchbox.

Eggs, the slacker's approach

Here's a snack-tastic idea: Keep a bowl of hardboiled eggs in the refrigerator.

I do, and you wouldn't believe how often Fred or I grab for it.

The big advantage, of course, is having such a versatile food item always at the ready. In a pinch, I pick up an egg, peel it and presto. Zero planning required. Zero prep time. Believe me, my egg bowl has bailed me out more than once.

Another advantage: no need for fancy-schmancy gadgets. Just boil 'em, drop 'em into a bowl (shells intact) and refrigerate. Whenever you feel the need, just pull one out, peel and pop in your mouth.

Other advantages:

• virtually no fuss, no mess, no dirty dishes (unless you so choose)
• easy to flavor, with tons of ways to dress them up
• storable (in fridge) for 2+ weeks
• become easier to peel over time
• affordable source of high-quality protein
• easily digested
• easy to separate white from yolk, thus controlling fat intake (Some amount of yolk is good for you, but we tend to discard much of it.)

We use hardboiled eggs on sandwiches, in salads or as part of a deli plate. We even bag them (pre-peeled, usually) and cary them hiking, or as a post-exercise snack, or to eat in the car during an afternoon of scheduled events.

How do we make 'em?

We do up 18 at a time — that's how many fit in our large pot — boiling them for about 9 minutes (counting from when the water starts to boil). At that point, we stop the cooking process by holding the pan under cold running water for a minute or so.

Eggstra details

1 (large) egg =

• 70 calories
• 6 grams of complete protein (i.e. all nine essential amino acids)
• 5 grams of fat, only 1.5 grams of which is saturated
• prime source of lutein, which is thought to contribute to eye health
• some cholesterol, but dietary cholesterol does not appear to raise blood cholesterol
• chockablock with vitamins and minerals (far too boring to list 'em all here).

Snack on this: 5 pieces of rhubarb trivia

1. Fruit or veggie?

Rhubarb is a vegetable — except in the United States, where, to sidestep high import-taxes, it was legally classified as a fruit in 1947.

2. Does rhubarb thrive in Newfoundland?

Duh, rhubarb is a plant that requires cool temperatures, responds well to moisture and tolerates acidic soil. Enough said.

3. Isn't rhubarb poisonous?

Nope. (Well, the leaves are. Snack on the stalks.)

4. Is it really a snack?

Certainly. Rhubarb is used for making sauce, jam, crisp, pie, and so forth. (And if pie can't be a snack, then I'm a cantalope.)

Also, there are kids in these parts who chaw on rhubarb stalks like licorice, with some even raiding local gardens to fuel their habits.

5. Sarah, is it true that, as a child, you were so poor/backward/socially outcast that your only playmates were stalks of rhubarb?

Not really ... but Fred's sister, at age 4, was once visiting her grandmother and noticed a little boy in the neighboring yard. In an attempt to poke her nose through the fence and gain a closer look, Sis tromped through Granny's vegetable patch.

Granny, protective over her plants, burst out the porch door, shaking her dishcloth in Sis's direction. "Go on," yelled Granny, "get away from that rhubarb."

Sis, in the middle of the vegetable patch, burst into tears. Mistakenly believing Granny was referring to the boy, Sis stood there, wailing, "Wah, but I wanna play with Rhubarb."

(This provided Fred with ammo to tease his sister for decades. For example, "Nah nah, you thought the boy's name was Rhubarb"; "Sissy and Rhubarb up in a tree ..."; and other equally sophisticated remarks.)

Adding zing to avocado

Raw is great, raw is good ...

Yup, uncooked vegetables are a healthy choice; no dispute. And they could hardly be quicker to prepare.

But chowing down on naked veggies (such as avocado, for example) can get tiresome. Sometimes you just gotta dress things up.



Here's a method where tasty meets simple. Super simple. All it takes is a sprinkle and a splash.

Un-average Avocado

Scrounge:

• avocado
• sesame seeds
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• tamari (regular soy sauce will do)
• black pepper
• cayenne pepper

Commence:

1. Peel, pit and cube avocado, then place on plate
2. Splash and sprinkle seasonings as you please. (I like it spicy. This recipe is, in fact, a spicier version of one I borrowed from TV chef Laura Calder.)

To tease the most out of uncooked foods, there's no substitute for top-notch ingredients. So squeeze a fresh lemon. Drizzle olive oil that's virgin and cold-pressed. Grind your pepper from whole peppercorns. Dribble on authentic tamari. You get the idea.

No need to limit yourself to avocado. This approach lends itself to other vegetables, too.

Don't be surprized by the pleasure of fixing a dish like this, even if it's for yourself. Do it up fancy enough and it'll also be a pleasure to serve to friends.

Autumn air ain't the only thing that's crisp

Fruit crisp is an Atlantic Canada favorite. Apple is the best known variety, traditionally making its appearance in Fall, the time when apples are bountiful.

Whenever I'm in the mood to bake crisp, I like to nudge it beyond apples alone. Berries are my addition of choice. Of course, folks have been known to use peach, rhubarb or raisins, to name other options.

I find a bowl of fruit crisp somewhat heavy after a main meal, so tend to enjoy it on its own, most often as an evening snack. Crisp is incredible when warm, especially alongside a scoop of something icy, like frozen yogurt.

Apple-berry crisp

Fruit base:

• apples (cored and sliced, 3 cups)
• berries (mixed, fresh or frozen, 3 cups)
• brown sugar (1/2 cup)
• lemon juice (1 Tbsp)
• cinnamon (1/2 tsp)

Topping:

• multigrain flour (1/2 cup)
• canola oil (1/3 cup)
• twelve-grain cereal (uncooked, 1 cup)
• brown sugar (1/2 cup)
• cinnamon (1/2 tsp)

What to do:

1. In large bowl, combine ingredients for fruit base, then push into 9x13" baking pan (greased or parchment-lined)
2. In medium bowl, mix topping ingredients, then spread over fruit base. Pat firm.
3. Bake at 350°F until apples are tender and topping is lightly browned
4. Cool, then serve on your finest dessertware or merely plop pan in your lap and have at it with wooden spoon.  :‍-‍)

I suggest not skinning the apples. For me, the added texture is appeeling. (Sorry.) Besides, the peelings are where most of the nutrients lie.

Incidentally, crisps, crumbles and cobblers (in these parts, those are called "grunts") are not one and the same. They're best thought of as cousins, with the sugary topping of each being distinct.

Impeccable timing

When it comes to dishing up snack food, it's tough to beat the all-day policy of this Quebec City eatery. (I snapped the menu photo while on holiday last month.)

Yup, no better time for a snack than anytime-you-feel-like-it o'clock.  :-)

'Tis the season

Slam Newfoundland & Labrador all you will for ornery weather and for being miserly in doling out summer, but you can't beat the place when it comes to berries. Especially blueberries. The beasts are plump, plentiful and practically at your doorstep -- even if you live in downtown St. John's, as I do.

Look, here's proof:

Aside from blueberries, this tasty snack included a:

• scoop of frozen yogurt
• spoonful of dark-chocolate chips
• sprinkle of walnuts
• splash of soy milk.

Fresh, sweet and yum-yum-yummy. Almost good for you, too, so I'm told.  :-)

Practically as thrilling as the dressed treat, of course, is the hunt. I bagged this lot of berries yesterday, with the help of a friend, who had gotten the inside track on a "top secret" location.

How we whooped it up at finding the place. This reaction was partly from glee, at having navigated with only a scrawled map, and partly from relief -- on our last outing together, during the previous summer, we lost our way more than once.

But back to the berries. Baby, did we hit the motherload; the woods shimmered in wall-to-wall blue. A mere couple of hours saw our baskets brimming -- and that was allowing time for chatting, sipping homemade lemonade, munching chocolate-covered almonds, and nibbling the odd handful from our blueberry harvest.

What's not to love about berry picking? Fine exercise, reconnecting with nature, sharing (mis)adventures with a friend.

Yes, picking berries is a fabulous deal, however you tally it. For the investment of one afternoon and a few tablespoons of gasoline, I now have a week's worth of fresh fruit sitting on the bottom shelf of my fridge. Whoo-hoo.