A Favorite “Fast Food” Hot Spot

I’ve met with the extreme from a dining out standpoint. I’ve worked with people who tallied dining out as much as 14-17 meals a week, while others admit to fearing the notion of eating a single meal out of the home. I feel like there can be a happy balance. The goal for all of us should be to eat at home most often; and when we do dine out, we should try to make good choices from what is available. As for eating the less than ideal choices, sure, there are occasions for sharing or enjoying such options. It’s when splurging too often and consuming too much can get us into trouble.

Here is an example of how I like to work a fast food type of dinner. Yesterday was a very busy workday. Add to this the fact that everything takes me longer on crutches and Greg was on call. By the end of the day when I finally got to picking up the kids I really didn’t feel up to making a complicated dinner, but I did want good food.

One of my favorite “fast food” hot spots is the Whole Foods deli and salad bar. They have such an exceptional variety of awesome food choices already prepared for tasty dining. You can easily make a whole meal from this or just grab a couple quick sides.

The highlight of what I grabbed was this Sea and Earth Salad. I try to choose the options that I cook less often at home. For example, this salad contains wheatberries, wild rice, arame, wakame, red peppers, green peppers, red onion, garlic, shoyu, rice vinegar, dates, tahini, sesame seeds, crushed red pepper, and ginger. I really don’t cook with seaweed very often; and I used to cook wheatberries when I lived in Seattle, but for some reason I’ve been cooking them less here in Indianapolis. I feel choosing an option such as this incorporates some healthier options that I don’t regularly eat. I forgot to take a picture, but I also grabbed a salad covered with hearts of palm, roasted garlic cloves, roasted edamame, and lean chicken.   

Don’t confuse this type of eating with the mayo saturated salads or fried chicken wings at many grocery delis. I encourage to ‘think vegetables’.  Vegetables are one staple of the diet that can be easily overlooked with ‘fast food’ dining.  Grab the vegetable options you are less inclined to prepare at home; but either way, vegetables should work their way into the meal. If the vegetables are saturated in a rich, fatty coating then purchase the same vegetable fresh and add it to the dish. A great example of this is broccoli salad. Purchase a smaller helping of broccoli salad. Then purchase and chop a little extra fresh broccoli into the dish. This way you will have a less creamy, fat loaded veggie salad.

Yes, the kids ate it too! They are used to mom bringing home a variety of food and know there will always be a one bite rule at our house.  The meal was quick, healthy, and delicious!

Can’t wait to hear how all of my local friends do today at the Carmel Marathon!!