Use This Formula to Make a ‘Healthy’ Snack You’ll Actually Want to Eat

We’re halfway through February, a month in which resolve is weakened and resolutions are abandoned. Even if you started the year with the best eating habits in place, bad weather, a chocolate-focused holiday, and life have a way of derailing these best laid meal plans.

If you need help getting back on track—or simply need inspiration for healthful snacks—the nice people at Martha Stewart have a handy formula for crafting the perfect little snack: “Pair a fruit or vegetable with a protein, then add a dash of exciting flavor.”

If you think about it, you’ll realize this is why classic snacks like ants on a log and hummus and carrots are so successful—protein helps you feel full, and the plant part helps you feel good. I would, however, like to stress the importance of fat.

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The addition of a (healthy) fat (obviously) makes the snack tastier, but it also makes it taste complete. Fat marries protein and plant into a cohesive bite, and helps you feel not just full, but satisfied.

Martha and friends have several suggestions for such a combination (and you should bop on over to her site to read them), but I have taken the liberty of coming up with some of my own (because that’s my job):

• Cottage cheese + halved cherry tomatoes + a drizzle of olive oil + everything bagel seasoning

• Hard boiled egg + a swipe of butter + pickled cauliflower

• Blanched asparagus wrapped in turkey + pesto for dipping

• Pear slices + marscapone cheese + crunchy granola

• Cucumber slices + hummus + feta + za’atar

• Plain yogurt + roasted vegetables + chili crisp + spiced and toasted nuts

• Apple slices + ricotta + honey + candied pecans

...and so on and so forth.

In addition to the protein + plant + fat + flavor format, consider the texture of your snack while building it. A little bit of crunch can go a long way, and keep your mouth interested, even if the snack you’re eating is “for your health.”