In the business of ready-made, healthful foods, four area companies search for the sweet spot between it tastes good and it's good for you

Why does all the food that's so bad for you taste so good?

For years, we've wrestled with that question. Or maybe thumb-wrestled with it, as it was always more a lament than a catalyst for the seven stages of grieving a food culture we would have to kill. But with the bully pulpit - whether in books or on TV and film- preaching more and more vociferously about the dangers of processed foods, the idea of eating well has gone from the obsessive fringe to the mainstream.

Witness the explosion of quick, healthy meals here in Austin. The past year has seen the emergence of at least four operations with business models that put them in line with calorie-counting giants like Jenny Craig and NutriSystem. Each makes preportioned lunches, dinners and snacks with a close eye on calories, fat, sodium - all the things we try to avoid but somehow don't. And there are gluten-free dishes, dishes without dairy and better-than-obligatory options for vegans and vegetarians.

We might not be a slow-food nation, but the four businesses featured below aim to help us tap the brakes and consider the possibility that what's good for us also can taste good.

Snap Kitchen

• 4616 Triangle Ave. 459-9000.

• 1014 W. Sixth St. 479-5959.

Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. www.snapkitchen.com .

The Story: Martin Berson is a man of his word. When the Snap Kitchen owner got engaged to his high school sweetheart, Robin Nirken, he told her they would eventually move to Austin. In 2008, four years after they married, the couple returned to the town where both once lived.

Berson, coming off a dozen years as operating partner of the Houston restaurant Benjy's - one of that city's first hip New American spots - decided to unwind before charting his next move. Motivated by his passion for fresh, healthy food and the dietary precautions of his pregnant wife, a Type I diabetic, Berson devised Snap Kitchen. Informed by his experience at Benjy's, Berson hoped to create a stylish twist on the prepared-food concept - from the merchandising to the music to the design of his store (hello, Michael Hsu). And, of course, the food.

For that, Berson hired chef Ethan Holmes (formerly of Taverna), who said he embraced the challenge to create "a good, filling, satisfying dining experience," while eliminating unhealthy fats and empty calories - comfort food without the nap. Together, the two men crafted a menu of 65 items enhanced by the nutritional advice of Snap's registered dietitian, Andrea Hinsdale.

How it works: Call in advance to have meals bagged and ready to go or select from the open-air refrigerated cases. Both shops offer curbside service; Snap delivers and expects to add online ordering. For the regiment-inclined, Snap Commit is a 21-day program that includes three meals and two snacks a day for three weeks, along with a 30-minute nutrition consultation and boot-camp training with VO2 Fitness (the plan begins at $540 and go up based on caloric intake)..

Tasting notes: Texas Flank Hash ($7.25/one size): The eggs in this breakfast dish have great smoky flavor, punctuated by bright notes from cilantro and sweet onions. Kidney beans and flank steak provide plenty of protein and complementary textures in this dish that tastes like a morning campfire meal whipped up by a gourmet cowboy.

Ginger Chicken Stir Fry ($8.25/medium): Moist, tender chicken with substantial grill marks draped in the colors of pickled ginger and accompanied by the sweet, salty tang of ginger soy sauce. The broccoli and quinoa border on mushy but still hold up.

Mediterranean Three Bean Stew ($5.25/small): Unlike much healthy food (especially vegetarian), this fibrous meal is spiced wonderfully, the tomato sauce accentuated with the tangy, briny Mediterranean staples of capers and Kalamata olives.

Curried Chicken Salad ($3.25/one size): Though proportioned as a "snack," I would happily eat this flavorful salad by the shovel-full should decorum allow. The chunky chicken is blended into a complex mixture that is at once spicy (curry), sweet (golden raisins), smoky (toasted almonds) and crunchy (celery). A perfect snack.