Richard Sandoval’s Back to School Snacks

Want your kids to eat fresh, healthy foods after school instead of candy, cookies and other fattening snacks? We asked chef Richard Sandoval, a Mexico City native and owner of restaurants worldwide including Masa 14 in Washington D.C., Zengo in Denver, and the recently opened Raymi in New York City, for his take on Latin-inspired back to school snacks.

“You want to feed your kids a healthy snack to keep them fueled and energized,” Sandoval says. “You also want to keep it fun and exciting so they have something to look forward to during the day.  If you introduce fresh ingredients and vibrant flavors at a young age, kids will enjoy healthy foods because they’ve grown up eating them.  You can also modify the standard junk food to make it healthy,” he explains, suggesting baked tortillas instead of fried, topped with banana puree, which he calls banana “ice cream.”

Sandoval says Latin foods are appealing for kids and adults because of the bold flavors, interesting textures and different ways to prepare the dishes. “It’s much more exciting to pull slices of fresh mango with a squeeze of lime and a little chile out of your lunch box than an apple,” he elaborates.

Stock your kitchen with some of these key Latin ingredients identified by Sandoval: fresh citrus and fresh produce like bananas, plantains, jicama, mango, coconut, avocado, papaya, tomatoes and peppers. Add in extra flavor with herbs and spices including cinnamon, cilantro, garlic, chiles and cumin. Your kid’s lunch box will thank you for it!

Using these flavors, Chef Sandoval’s picks for Latin-inspired back to school snacks include guacamole and salsa, which are not only healthy but tasty. "Guacamole contains healthy fats and salsa is very low in fat and calories and packed with vitamins and nutrients."  

His other snack choice, cancha, a dehydrated corn that resembles nuts, is very popular in Latin America. “It’s crunchy, slightly salty, and just fun to eat!” says Sandoval. “It’s kind of like the potato chip of Latin America.  My kids absolutely love it.”  

Want your kids to snack like Sandoval's? Here's a few of the recipes described above.

Chunky Guacamole

• 3 Hass avocados, cut into 1/2-inch
• 1 plum tomato, seeded and finely diced
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion
• 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
• 1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• kosher salt
• tortilla chips, for serving

Click here for the full recipe.

Salsa Roja

• 2 tomatoes, cored and chopped
• 1 small white Spanish onion chopped
• 2 fresh serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and chopped
• 1teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Click here for the full recipe.

Cancha

• 4.5 ounce cancha chulpe
• 1 ounce oil
• salt to taste

Click here for the full recipe.