Feature Recipes: Back to School Snacks

Originally published in the Sept. 4, 2013, issue

Snack rollups with honey mustard dipping sauce

Editor’s Note: Even if they’re too little to help slice the tortillas, kids will love helping stack on the meat and rolling these snacks up! Though we use turkey and ham, you can substitute any deli meat you prefer. The rollups can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

For the rollups:

3 whole wheat tortillas

Half-pound deli turkey

Half-pound deli ham

12 small cubes of cheese

6 drinking straws, cut in half

For the dipping sauce:

½ cup Dijon mustard

½ cup honey

1 teaspoon mayonnaise

Instructions:

1. Lay the tortillas out flat. Place one to three slices of deli meat in the center of each tortilla.

2. Roll the tortillas up and cut each into four slices.

3. Gently place each rollup on a straw and top with a cheese cube.

4. Combine the mustard, honey and mayonnaise in a small bowl until thoroughly blended. Serve with rollups.

Chip salad featuring kale and sweet potatoes

Editor’s Note: If your kids are anything like I was (or still am …) vegetables may not be their favorite food group. But crisp some veggie slices in the oven, toss on some spices for garnish and tell your kids they’re getting a chip salad, and yours will be the kitchen of envy. Try it with tomato, red cabbage and other produce for an especially colorful salad!

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh kale

3 small sweet potatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt to taste

Ranch dressing

Instructions:

For the kale chips:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Remove kale leaves from the stem. Cut or tear leaves into bite-size pieces.

3. Place kale, one tablespoon olive oil and salt in a baking pan. Toss to coat.

4. Bake kale for 12 minutes or until it starts to become crisp. Do not overcook.

For the sweet potato chips:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Thinly slice potatoes. Place potatoes, two tablespoons olive oil and salt in a baking pan and toss to coat.

3. Bake potatoes for seven minutes or until they start to become crisp and lightly brown.

To create the salad, layer kale chips with sweet potato chips on a platter and serve with ranch dressing on the side.

Apple fries with peanut butter dipping sauce

Editor’s Note: This snack is stacked with protein and healthy carbs in the form of fruit. The peanut butter dip goes well with a variety of fruit, but with apple season coming up, we thought it would be delectable with a fresh, Georgia-grown orchard treat! For a more adult version, try grilling the apple before slicing it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt

1 tablespoon apple juice

Dash of cinnamon

Georgia apples

Instructions:

1. Slice apples in half, and slice each half into thin strips – like French fries.

2. Combine peanut butter, yogurt, apple juice and cinnamon in a small bowl until thoroughly mixed.

3. Refrigerate dip until ready to serve.