This is Day 3 of the 5-Day Healthier Eating Challenge. To start at the beginning, click here.
Americans are snacking more than ever. A recent survey suggested that 95 percent of us now eat at least one snack a day, and most of us eat two or more.
When a craving hits, many people reach for ultraprocessed snacks like candy or chips. That’s partly because, as I mentioned in yesterday’s challenge, these foods are engineered to be craveable. (My favorites are chocolate bars with nuts and any cheese-flavored chip that turns your fingers orange.)
But there’s another reason we might want an ultraprocessed snack. Sometimes, healthier whole foods like walnuts, fruit or carrot sticks can seem a little bland and joyless. And that’s too bad, because minimally processed foods generally include things that make you feel sated for longer, like fiber, water and protein, said Ashley Gearhardt, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.
Here’s the thing, though: That sad handful of almonds could be bursting with flavor.
Today we’re going to take a break from ultraprocessed snacks by making whole-food snacks just as delicious. We’ve enlisted experts to mimic the crave-worthy qualities of ultraprocessed foods, adding the salt, sweetness, fat and spice that can make more healthful foods pop.
Well Challenge Day 3: Try a sprinkle of ‘flavor dust.’
We’re making what we are calling flavor dusts — simple spice blends using ingredients you may have in your kitchen at home.
We’ve asked chefs and nutritionists to craft recipes just for us that you can sprinkle on nuts and popcorn — three savory, one spicy-sweet. We’ve also included some quick and easy recipes from NYT Cooking below.