Healthyish Loves It is our weekly column where we tell you about the stuff we can’t live without. See our past recommendations here!
It was with a fair shake of skepticism that I tried Slow Up, sweet and savory “fresh food bars” made from fruits, vegetables, and grains. Could these tiny beige squares really compete with a freshly prepared snack? But considering my big domestic goddess energy ran dry in June, and I still wanted to feed myself nourishing things without blowing my budget on Seamless, I figured it was worth a shot. Approximately 14 to 17 bars in, I’m a convert.
With 11 grams of protein and only three grams of sugar on average per bar, Slow Up bars are objectively better for me than pretty much everything in the snack aisle. They’re also vegetarian, gluten-free, and tucked inside colorful, compostable packaging. My favorite bar, poblano black bean, is made only of ingredients I can pronounce—like almonds, egg, quinoa, corn, vegetables, and honey—and tastes like a vegetal grain bowl that’s been whizzed up and compressed into a palm-size square. The Calabrian chili lemon flavor is pleasantly spicy and noticeably packed with pine nuts, and the cacao almond is dark and nutty, like a less sweet (but still chocolaty) brownie. Texturally, they’re similar to a firm frittata, with a snappy exterior and spongy middle.
The one trade-off with fresh ingredients is that they’re perishable. “Good food goes bad,” head chef Caroline Schiff says. “There are only a few ways to make something last for a long time out of the fridge—dry it, pack it with sugar or salt, or pump it full of chemical preservatives or acids.” That’s why Slow Up bars are designed to stay in the fridge, where they’ll last up to 14 days. (Not to worry—if you’re anything like me, you’ll finish the variety pack long before its expiration date.)
When I need to get a jump start on lunch, I’ll cube up the poblano bar and sprinkle it over lettuce with grated cheese, or crisp it up in the toaster and top it with a fat hunk of avocado and a drizzle of olive oil. But even when I’m too frazzled to do anything but open and chew, Slow Up bars don’t let me down.
Slow Up ships to most parts of the Northeast U.S.
