In Your Element

Energy bars have never been popular with food lovers: Those of us who freak over the perfect tomato are not the target audience for a snack of unidentifiable, multisyllabic ingredients.

Fed up with existing high-fat, high-sugar (and boring) post-workout pick-me-ups, a Chicago-based company has broken the bar down to basics. Its Element Bars are focused around a core of natural ingredients and the input of a highly selective, tastemaking palate--yours.

Each design-your-own bar begins at the Element Bars website, where you choose a base texture (such as chewy or crispy), then add your favorite nuts, dried fruits, sweets and boosts (like soy protein, fiber and omega-3s). After that, all you need to do is come up with a name for your bar, and the bespoke snacks (12 bars for $36) will be at your door in days.

Need inspiration? Take a quiz to get suggestions for a combo that best suits you, or crib some ideas from past bar-chitects here.

If you're happy with your creation, submit a description of your masterpiece to the site so others can order it--and rate it. Who knows: Maybe you'll become the next natural-foods billionaire.