Cajun Pollo alla Oregano

DAY 9: VENICE CAFE

So Friday was my off day. I had a lunch meeting and ate what was served to the group, which was a turkey sandwich. Good thing I stuck to salads Monday through Friday.


Venice Cafe's Cajun Pollo alla Oregano

Today I was in the mood for something other than a green salad. I wanted to switch it up a bit. I ended up at Venice Cafe, which is an independent fast-casual lunch spot known for fresh pasta and other traditional Italian dishes. It's the kind of place where the menu lists the pastas and sauce separately. Pick one of each, and you have lunch.

When you walk into Venice Cafe, you get in line at the counter to order. Most dishes are not preassembled, but the line moves fast. My favorite pasta dish is angel hair with bolognese sauce, but there's no way I can talk myself or anyone else into believing that could count as salad. So I chose the Cajun Pollo alla Oregano, which is a fancy way of saying Cajun Chicken Pasta Salad.

Realistically speaking, this probably doesn't count as salad either. It's light on veggies and heavy on carbs. But it's tr-color rotini, which includes spinach rotini. That counts as a green, right? And the menu says that organic and local produce is used when possible, so it's health conscious. Obviously I didn't have too much trouble rationalizing myself into thinking this was ok.

The salads here are premade and displayed behind the counter in giant bowls. You pick the one you want and someone will scoop out a portion for you.

They're available in two sizes, medium and large, and come with a wonderfully big, delicious, homemade herb garlic roll. Especially with the roll, the medium-sized portion is generous enough for me.

As the name suggests, this salad is heavy on pasta. It's cooked al dente, which is what I prefer. Mixed in with the rotini are small cubes of tasty Cajun spiced chicken along with diced red pepper and thinly sliced celery. The vegetables are crunchy and compliment the noodles. A creamy Cajun dressing is premixed into the salad. It's tangy with a hint of spice and doesn't overpower—nor does it drip off the rotini, which is great because it's probably not low-cal. Just enough is used to flavor every bite.

The medium salad along with the roll was more than I needed. I ate a little over half the salad and took the rest home to eat with dinner: grilled pork chops with homemade spicy barbecue sauce and some veggies.

It was a super affordable lunch, totaling under $5.00 with tax.

Calories aren't posted online or in the restaurant, but I could guesstimate my caloric intake. I ate about a cup or less of pasta plus the roll. With the veggies of little significance, I'm fairly confident that I stayed under the 500 calorie limit.

This salad delivered a lot of flavor and satisfaction. At under $5.00 and under 500 calories, I'd say my week is off to a great start.

EATERY
Venice Cafe, 500 West Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60661

ITEM
Cajun Pollo alla Oregano

MENU DESCRIPTION
Colored pasta Rotini, fresh Cajun-style chicken breast, celery and red peppers in a creamy cajun dressing .

CALORIES
Guessing <500

COST
$4.25 before sales tax

RECOMMEND
Definitely