Who Lacks Snacks?

Sheltering at home so much, we tend to grab a snack between meals. Hell, let’s admit it: We tend to grab a snack between meals regardless of the situation. And we get tired of the same-old same-old snacks day after day, don’t we? Besides that many of those same-old snacks aren’t quite as basically healthy as the new snacks being brought to market these days …

For instance? Well, like these tasty things:

1. CRUNCHIONS Confession: I recently made dal for the first time. Just spending more time in the kitchen, as one does during a pandemic, and having reflexively grabbed a bag of lentils from otherwise empty grocery shelves back when the Covid shit started to hit the fan in 2020, I figured, alright, I’m going to see how well I can handle this Indian recipe. But I really decided to do that because I’d recently snarfed down a bag of Crunchions – which had reminded me that, whoa, lentils are actually delicious if you do them up right. Because Crunchions are crispy snacks made of red lentils (always baked, not fried) in the shape of classic onion rings, and they come in a pleasing variety of flavors (BBQ, sour cream & onion, sweet chili) and, yes, lentils are actually delicious if you do them up right. Which the Harvest Snaps company certainly does, snackwise. Just the sort of things you want when you’re tossing something toward your snack-craving gullet. And, btw, that dal I attempted? Turned out real good, actually – especially because I garnished it with Crunchions.

2. POPPER DUOS Here’s those Harvest Snaps people again, this time rocking the green pea vibe. I mean, everybody and their sister is using a green pea base for something now, it seems like – because it’s a vegetable, see, and because it’s ostensibly healthier than corn or potatoes or whatever, I suppose. In any case, it sure is tasty. And these Poppers are little crispy-puffed spheres of green pea meal, with each kind of Duo boasting two complementary flavors in each bite – bbq and ranch, salsa and cheddar, yellow and white cheddar. And, with these things available, I may never eat another potato chip again. I’m not even suggesting that peas are somehow flavorly or nutritionally superior to potatoes, here – it might well be a tie, however that could be reckoned objectively – what I’m saying is: Little crispy spheres of snacky goodness? So much more convenient and easy to handle than your mostly broken chips, you know? Verdict on these Popper Duos: Easy to pop, satisfying to eat.

3. MAGICdATES Now this is where the real power kicks in. These date-based snacks from the Coachella Valley’s Diana Jarrar and company are marketed as energy bites, which, if you’ve ever tried some gnarly off-brand energy bars, seems almost like an insult to themselves. There’s a reason why dates are called “nature’s candy,” after all; it’s because they’re just that cravable. These convenient and nutrient-rich morsels, made of dates blended with walnuts, coconut, and cacao, and flavored with blueberries or lemons or dark chocolate, could be a problem for the easily confused. “Hold on,” you might wonder, “am I getting a quick burst of healthy energy for the rest of my busy day right now … or am I merely making my sweet-craving taste buds and belly very, very happy?” The answer, it’s good to discover, is: Both at once, friend, both at once.

4. SNOW DAYS Yeah, we used to think “snow day” would never be a term with any relevance to the good old ATX, right? Now – with the recent memory of frozen days without power or running water still fresh (and yet also festering) in our mind – with a few curses to the state’s We Ain’t Gonna Let No National Gummint Regulate Us stance muttering from our lips – we’ve had second thoughts. But now, with the power back on and most of us, at least, able to drink safely from the taps again, we also have Snow Days. These are pizza bites, citizen. These are pizza bites like those pizza bites you probably already enjoy ovening up and nomming by the tasty handful, yes. But these Snow Days, says company founder Jason Karp, are better for you: They’re made with grain-free, gluten-free dough; they’re filled with organically farmed vegetables; and they contain no refined sugars or oils or preservatives. Well, alrighty then. But the more important question is: How do they taste? Well, personally, I like them. I don’t care if there is or isn’t gluten involved: I’m more concerned with the mouthfeel and the flavor of what the dough crisps up to, and what’s inside them, you know? And these Snow Days do a fine job of crisping up. (Also, sweet potatoes are one of the main ingredients here; and when given the choice between regular french fries and sweet-tater fries, I always go for the latter; so let that be a clue in your own figuring.) And the cheese-filled ones I tried were lip-smacking good. (I literally smacked my lips, yes.) So, if you’re into pizza bites but you’d rather be gluten-free while you’re at it, you should look into these new ones – because yum – and by now you should be able to find them in your grocer’s freezer. Which, considering the paradoxical smallness of this big city, may well be my grocer’s freezer, too. Do say hi, if you see me, won’t you? This pandemic has been kind of lonely-making.