I love everything about summer foods — including snacks and desserts. For what is definitely my favorite story of the year thus far, I recruited some family and friends, including nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden, to try out cool new snacks and sweets that taste indulgent but are actually guilt-free. The goal was to find summertime treats that are light, healthy and relatively low in calories, but still tasty.
Popchips. (Available at Whole Foods Market, Target and CVS. Cost: $1.29 single serving… $2.99 for three-ounce bag.) The Popchips folks know that in the snack-food world, fried equals bad and baked equals tasteless. They came up with a great solution — potato chips that are cooked using heat and pressure. According to Bowden, these have “lots to recommend them.” They have zero trans-fats for most flavors, are available in reasonable 100-calorie single-serve portions — and they’re delicious too. “They taste exactly like potato chips only lighter, with no greasy feel or aftertaste,” said one tester, who liked the barbeque flavor best. Popchips are also available in other flavors, including sea salt and vinegar (“slightly tangy”) and parmesan garlic. (www.popchips.com).
Bambinis Ice Cream Sandwiches. (Available at Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats. Suggested retail: $5.99.) This mini ice-cream sandwich just might be the breakout hit of the summer. It’s made of goat’s milk and tastes like a lighter version of the classic Good Humor ice cream sandwiches… but better (to my adult palate, at least). The chocolate cookies on the outside are rich, soft and light as a feather — and the inside goat’s milk ice cream is divine. Bowden noted that these are terrific for people who have problems digesting dairy foods, since goat’s milk is low in lactose and less antigenic than cow’s milk… and healthier overall, since it is free of the growth hormones found in most commercial cow’s milk. One Bambinis ice cream sandwich is 90 calories. The company, LaLoo’s, also markets a line of goat’s milk ice cream in a variety of unique flavors, including Strawberry Darling, Rumplemint, Deep Chocolate and frozen yogurts such as Cajeta de Leche. (www.laloos.com).
AppleBoost Energy Snack Tubes. (Available online at www.appleboost.com.) These handy tubes contain nothing but healthy organic applesauce, fortified with a special patented powdered apple peel that intensifies the apple taste while adding yet more nutrients, since the antioxidants and phytochemicals in apples are concentrated in the apple peel. To enjoy an AppleBoost, you tear off the end of the tube, squeeze and consume… but we discovered that they’re even more delicious frozen — like an apple-flavored popsicle, and so much better for kids than those cheap, nutritionally empty, frozen sugar ices, says Bowden. “Apples are a nutritional powerhouse, containing vitamin C and many phytochemicals — like quercetin — with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties,” he added. Other flavors are available too and all are low in calories.
Tempt (Hemp Milk Frozen Dessert). (Available at Whole Foods Market and other natural food stores.) I’ve written previously about hemp as a health food (see Daily Health News, December 20, 2007) and as noted, its nutritional value rises far above its somewhat tainted reputation. Nutritionists sing the praises of all foods made from this plant. “Hemp seed is a rich source of essential fatty acids,” says Bowden, “and the oil has a very beneficial ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s. You won’t find benefits like these in any other ice cream!” However my taste-testers delivered a mixed verdict — some loved it, but not all. Hemp milk frozen dessert is not as sweet as what most people are used to. Our panel especially liked the Coffee Biscotti (which tastes like light coffee mixed with bits of chocolate) and the Vanilla Bean (creamy and not too sweet), with one tester describing the taste as similar to Tofutti, though she said she liked this product better. It’s made by Living Harvest Foods. (www.livingharvest.com).
Raw Agave Gelato (Organic Nectars Non-Dairy gelato). (Available at Whole Foods Market and independent health food stores. Cost: $7.50 to $8.50 a pint.) Not only is this one my personal favorite, but the product has also earned multiple awards from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. Though it is quite expensive, I think it is a lovely dinner-party dessert. It is a non-dairy gelato, sold in pints (four servings). Organic Nectars gelato is made from raw organic cashews, which have fiber and minerals. Raw Agave Gelato is sweetened with agave syrup and is free of soy, eggs, gluten and trans-fats. They come in a variety of flavors. We tried pistachio and chocolate-hazelnut and both were very, very delicious. It’s made by Organic Nectars in upstate New York. (www.organicnectars.com).
With treats like these, it’s sure to be a sweet summer!
