Healthy Fast Food? February 19, 2009

Healthy fast food may sound like an oxymoron, but careful choices off of a fast food menu can leave you feeling satisfied without all of the calories. Our busy lives don’t leave us with a lot of time to sit down for a healthy meal, so even though we don’t want to admit it, we are all guilty of pulling up to the drive-thru window. Here is a simple list of tips to remember when ordering off of a fast food menu:

• Make careful menu selections – pay attention to the descriptions on the menu.
• Drink water with your meal.
• “Undress” your food.
• Don’t be afraid to special order.
• Watch portion size.
• Watch your salt.
• Avoid buffets – even seemingly healthy ones like salad bars.
• Eat mindfully.
• Remember the big picture.

At Wendy’s you could order the Grilled Chicken Fillet (with no mayo), a small Chili, or a Jr. Hamburger or Cheeseburger instead of the Big Bacon Classic, Chicken Club Sandwich, or the Baked Potato with Bacon and Cheese.

Many people assume that Subway is all healthy food so just by going there you are making a better choice. Part of this is true. Subway does have a lot more to offer in terms of healthy eating, but they also sneak fatty foods onto their menu. When choosing items from the menu, stick to a 6-inch sub topped with veggies and ham, roast beef, or turkey breast (less than 300 calories). Use mustard or vinegar as a topping (only 45 calories). Subway salads are another option, choose from the salads with 6 grams of fat or less and top with fat-free Italian dressing (under 250 calories). The foods to avoid are double meat sandwiches, Meatball, Italian BMT, and the Pastrami subs.

Fast food chains are slowly falling in line with the natural and organic food kick sweeping America. Some of the changes being found on menus are:

• Naturally raised meat,
• Dairy products with no rBGH,
• Using organic produce,
• Produce from local farms, and
• Zero trans-fats.

Hopefully next time you will think twice about ordering your Whopper, Big Mac, or Grilled Stuft Burrito.

Green: New American Vegetarian February 12, 2009

I recently visited Tempe’s entirely vegan restaurant, Green. The cuisine is considered new american vegetarian because it is created and influenced by many different cultures and cooking styles.

The restaurant itself is very welcoming with many bright colors and eclectic decorations, such as the twinkle lights hanging from the ceiling and the couches in the corner. You order your meal from the counter and the wait staff delivers it.

The menu has a lot of the traditional favorites including edamame; green hummus; and various salads, pizzas, and pasta bowls. Green also has “mock” meats that they use in a lot of their meals for those vegetarians (or nonvegetarians like myself) who still enjoy the flavor of meat but do not eat it for whatever reason. For instance the have spicy buffalo “wings”, po-boys and burgers with mock chicken or steak, and mock meatballs. They also use tofu in their dishes instead of the mock meat.

I decided to be daring and try some of the mock meat, so I ordered the Argentine Po-boy with mock steak, carmelized peppers and onions, vegan mayo and spicy chimichuri sauce. I ordered the thyme fries as a side. When the sandwich arrived it looked no different than any nonvegan version. The fries were little shoestring fries and they were delicious! The sandwich turned out to be amazing, and the steak pretty much tasted the same and almost had the same consistency except it was a little softer. I don’t know what it was, but the mock meat was pretty good!

Argentine po-boy with thyme fries

My friend got the BLTA and a side of fruit. She liked her sandwich as well, except she thought her “fake” bacon was a little too sweet and dry.

BLTA with a side of fresh fruit

We both gobbled up our meals and decided to try a tsoynami (no, I did not spell that wrong) for dessert. The tsoynami is a vegan version of ice cream because it is made out of soy, obviously. They have many different flavors including strawberry, mixed berry, mint chocolate chip, peanut butter and chocolate, raspberry, blueberry. I got the peanut butter and chocolate and my friend got the strawberry. Both were good because they really do taste like ice cream and don’t leave that soy taste in your mouth, but I think I like the strawberry one best.

Overall, the restaurant was much better than I thought it was going to be. I would definitely go again – even if it is just for the tsoynamis!

Pita Jungle February 5, 2009

My favorite restaurant in Arizona is hands down Pita Jungle, which has locations Valleywide but I visit the Tempe location. The restaurant is known for their vegan-friendly menu. I’ve been more times than I can count and tried almost everything on the menu.

Everytime I go, I have to get the baba ganoosh which is eggplant with tahini sauce, it kind of looks like hummus and you eat it with a pita – I also like to add the hot sriracha sauce for some kick. Some of my other favorite appetizers include their various flavors of hummus (original, roasted bell pepper, cilantro jalapeno), spanakopita (layers of crisp fillo dough stuffed with spinach and feta cheese), and dolmades (grap leaves stuffed with rice, tomatoes, onions and parsley).

Baba ganoosh with sriracha sauce

For my entree, I usually get the mozzarella tomato and basil (also called a caprese salad), which is fresh buffalo mozzarella layered with tomatoes and basil, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It actually is considered an appetizer here, but in my opinion it should be a salad since it comes on top of a bed of lettuce. I love caprese salad, and anytime I can find a restuarant that does it well that is what I will order EVERYTIME I go. I have also had the greek salad (which is basically just a greek salad but the dressing is amazing!); the california beach club, which is sliced turkey breast, Swiss cheese, mushrooms, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, avocado, mixed greens and alfalfa sprouts, wrapped in a pita with a side of tsatziki (yes, it is huge); the pita pizza, which is tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, feta cheese, thyme, oregano and mozzarela on a pita (you can also add chicken, but I think it’s better without); and the grilled portabello mushroom burger, which is grilled marinated portabella mushroom, roasted bell peppers, mixed greens, tomatoes and onions on a whole wheat bun, served with Dijon mustard and garlic new potatoes.

Mozzarella tomato basil

Close up of small greek salad and view of entire table

I usually get a glass of wine with my meal, and by no means do I consider myself an expert on wine, but I like the selection here. It isn’t the typical labels you see at the majority of the restaurants around ASU. Pita Jungle also has a small selection of organic beer which is hard to find in Tempe.

The best part about Pita Jungle is that you can walk out of there paying under $20 for a delicious meal, including tip! It’s great and I tell everyone I know about this restaurant.

Pita Jungle is open everyday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Nation’s Greenest Restaurant January 28, 2009

Pizza Fusion, recognized as the pioneer in environmentally-friendly service, recently had their grand opening in Mesa making it Mesa’s first LEED and organic certified restaurant. The restaurant serves up delicious organic pizza as well as organic sandwiches, salads, beer and wine. I suggest trying the Seattle or Greek pizzas – they taste great and are healthy! Besides just serving up good food, Pizza Fusion takes it a step further by practicing an entirely green way of living. From the hybrid delivery cars to the paint on the walls, everything Pizza Fusion uses is environmentally friendly. For truely “green” service visit Pizza Fusion at 5735 E. McKellips Road.