Sprouted Lentils Make a Perfect Snaque

It’s crunch time! Time, that is, for a delicious, delightful, crunchy snack that will fill you up without a lot of collateral damage to your waistline. You’ll need something with both protein and fiber, but you don’t want a lot of sugars or junk ingredients. Hey, you can do that, and you can even find something vegan and GMO-free into the bargain. I’m talking about The Perfect Snaque (don’t you love the alternate spelling?).

The Perfect Snaque is a line of ready-to-eat snack foods. You might want to start by trying the Sprouted, Flavored Lentils, which include varieties such as Sea Salt & Vinegar, Honey Mustard, and Honey Barbecue. They’re full of flavor, but very low in fat, and they have a supremely satisfying crunch. The lentils used are organic, and these snacks are all soy-free. Eat them as I do, by themselves, or toss a handful into a salad, add them to a sandwich, or use them as a garnish for soup.

Want more of a variety in in one snack? Hey, The Perfect Snaque can do that, too. Check out their line of Crunches, ranging from Coconut Almond to Apple Quinoa to Chili Chia. All include some of those organic sprouted lentils, but they also contain organic amaranth, quinoa, and toasted coconut. My favorite, the Coconut Almond Crunch, is lightly sweetened and has a great blend of textures. Most of the Crunches are low in fat (except the Coconut Almond), and none has more than 10 mg of sodium per serving, a nice plus for the many people who must watch their sodium intake. Use these as a topping for cereals or stir some into your yogurt; I enjoy them plain.

These products contain few ingredients, and you’ll be able to pronounce all of the ingredients, something I always like to see. Founder Cricket says that she had been preparing nutrient-dense legumes and grains (lentils, quinoa, amaranth) as you would cook rice, and she began to wonder if she couldn’t use them in a dry snack mix without a lot of extraneous or questionable ingredients (she’s not a big fan of food bars). After a great deal of experimentation, she has her answer, and it’s a resounding “yes!”

I haven’t tried the Skinny Trail Mixes or the Chocolate Apple Bits (dark-chocolate-covered bits of dried apple), but The Perfect Snaque is a fine choice for people who understand that the food you consume is more than just calories and grams of protein, fat, and carbs. If you cannot find these items in a local natural foods store or high-end market, you can order them online.