Raw vegies not your ideal snack?

When you're thinking of a healthy snack, you can't go past raw vegetables. But I have always disliked the idea of eating raw carrot or celery sticks as a snack. Partly because I've always preferred a carb option (or a fatty option!) over a vegie option, but I suspect it's mainly to do with my Chinese upbringing.

You see, I never grew up eating raw vegetables unless it was part of a sandwich filling or it was mung bean sprouts plonked on top of a bowl of steaming noodle soup. I distinctly remember as a primary school kid and even as a uni student being amazed by people who would eat tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers raw and whole. As a snack. It weirded me out.

Thankfully my palate has changed somewhat and I am able to enjoy raw vegies outside of a sandwich e.g. sugar snap peas, mini roma or grape tomatoes. They do make a great and affordable finger food with yummy dips and spreads.

So if raw vegies as a snack aren't your thing, but you still want a healthy snack, I have an unremarkable suggestion: cook 'em. Sounds pretty obvious doesn't it? The idea came to me as I came home after work one evening, ravenous (actually, that sounds like most evenings), ready to devour something, anything! before dinner was ready. There were some cold roasted vegies in the fridge and to my surprised, they tasted quite good cold. There's no way I would have eaten raw vegies as a snack instead (not without a main meal) - that just doesn't appeal to me. But cooked vegies? Yum! To me, even cold, steamed broccoli tastes great. Way better than raw. Plus cooked vegies are more braces friendly.

If you have a sandwich press, you can also cook your vegies on that. I've cooked carrots this way, with baking paper covering the cooking plates, and they are delicious.



So if you're put off by the idea of raw vegies as a snack, I still say give it a go. You might like them after a while. But if it's not working for you, try cooked vegies instead.