Snacks are everyone’s favorite for a quick treat. However, snacks also contribute to a great amount of calorie intake as most snacks are deep-fried or use unhealthy seasonings. It is important that you make delicious yet healthy snacks for your family.

Cutting down on oil, spices and artificial seasoning will help you create healthy snacks. Here are some simple and healthy snack recipes that the entire family can enjoy.

Grilled Tofu with Sautéed Vegetables

To make this dish, marinate tofu with chilli flakes, mixed herbs, crushed garlic, salt and little olive oil. Marinate the tofu for about 1-2 hours in this spice and herb mixture. Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a pan, to this add par-boiled French beans, raw capsicum cubes, sweet corn and other vegetables of your choice. Sauté these vegetables on high heat. Season the veggies with salt and pepper. Now, grill the marinated tofu on a grill pan till they attain a light brownish color. Finally, toss the grilled tofu with the sautéed vegetables. Add fresh celery and fresh spring onions to the dish and serve hot with a dash lime juice to it.

Healthy Spinach Sandwich

Start by making the spinach spread for the sandwich. Heat olive oil in a pan and add to it onions, sauté the onions till they turn slightly brown. Add finely chopped spinach to the onions. Season the spinach mixture with salt, pepper, paprika powder and mixed herbs. Add boiled and mashed potatoes to the spinach and mix all the ingredients well. Evenly spread the potato and spinach mixture on multi-grain bread slices. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake the bread slices in a pre-heated oven til the cheese melts and the bread slices turn slightly crisp. Serve these open sandwiches with a tomato salsa or a cheesy dip.

Garbanzo Beans Patties

Soak about 4-5 cups garbanzo beans in water for 6-8 hours. Cook the soaked beans in a covered deep vessel with lots of water. Cook till the garbanzo beans turn tender and once done drain the excess water. Once the cooked beans cool, grind them coarsely in a food processor. To the roughly ground garbanzo beans mix, add salt, parsley, pepper, crushed garlic and paprika powder. To form patties, add about 1 beaten egg and a cup of breadcrumbs to the beans mix. Form patties and shallow fry them on a skillet with 2-3 teaspoons olive oil.