Hit The Road: 12 Portable, High-Energy Snacks

This weekend will see a lot of people gathering in peaceful protest for...well, for obvious reasons. If you're hitting the streets, don't go empty-handed: Bring along a hearty stash of these high-energy snacks to keep you and your friends well-fueled. This selection of nutrient-dense fodder is especially portable, easily packed in zip-top bags or foil, and, like all of us, not easily crushed.

The secret to my chewy, airy, hearty focaccia lies in the addition of whole-wheat flour in the dough. Whole wheat contains wheat germ and bran, lending a deeper, more complex flavor and structure to the dough, and when paired with softer all-purpose flour, the baked texture of this Italian classic is the perfect combination of airy and hearty.

Substitute another dried fruit if you don't have dried cranberries on hand.

We like to lean toward simplicity and clean flavors. So every time we start a jerk dish with a blank canvas, it's always a riot how long the list of ingredients grows. The point is that jerk is a very complex blend of spices that must work in a perfect harmony of herbal, sweet, spicy and sour. It takes many parts to complete the whole, and nothing can be out of sync. These cashews have made many appearances on our menus over the years but most recently played a great supporting role alongside our jerk trumpet mushrooms. They are terrific on top of a salad or just for snacking.

Tahini fudge sounds like a dessert you spent tons of cash on and tons of time hunting down ingredients. But this is super-easy and comes together in the blender, but we won't tell. Impress the hell out of your friends while staying true to your lazy roots.

This onigiri is a little fatty from the eggs scrambled in butter and the bacon. If you like, you can hold it all together by wrapping it like an envelope.

Chocolate bark is probably one of my favorite edible homemade gifts. It's so simple to make that even a child can do it, and the possibilities for flavors and toppings are endless. You can add dried fruit, nuts, seeds, your favorite cookies or candy, herbs, salt or chili powder. I would, however, recommend using a good-quality eating chocolate, as it's all about the chocolate.

If you have one super-simple baking recipe in your arsenal, make it banana bread. If you have two, make sure the second one is zucchini bread. While grating zucchini takes slightly longer than peeling overripe bananas, the resulting treat is well worth the effort. That's right, zucchini dresses sweet or savory, and if you've never had it sweet, this is the definitive recipe.

Food writer Kristin Donnelly's new cookbook brings back the old-school potluck dinner with contemporary new recipes. Just because it has to be portable, universally pleasing and easy enough to make in large batches doesn't mean you're stuck with beige casseroles and boring side dishes. Pick up a copy of Modern Potluck and feed that crowd right!

The editors of Food & Wine magazine have a cookbook out that will bring new life to your pantry and give your favorite kitchen staples a much-needed makeover. Take 50 popular ingredients and transform them into 200 easy-to-make recipes for everyone at your table.

Tip: Convection baking is really the best way to make fruit leather, but if your oven doesn't have a convection setting, bake the leather on the standard setting at the same temperature. It will just take a bit longer.

This dish was discovered at one of the pop-up food markets we frequent in New York City. One cold weekday evening, when business was slow, our neighbors across the aisle, La Sonrisa Empanadas, motioned to us for a few thin slices of salami. In accordance with our unwritten understanding that we keep each other fed during the long market hours, we obliged. A few minutes later, we received a surprise treat. Ariel, the empanada master, had taken our slices and dropped then in the fryer. The result was salami chips — a delicious snack, appetizer, and a powerful creator of texture in a wide range of main dishes.

These truffled chickpeas can be batch roasted, stored in an airtight container and poured into a bowl at a moment's notice when those unexpected neighbors pop over to say hello.