Ella's Salad

DAY 7: HANNAH'S BRETZEL

 

If given the opportunity to eat organic, I will. And if given the choice to patronize an independently owned eatery over a big corporate chain, I'll go the indy route.

 

At Hannah's Bretzel, I can do both. It's a local Chicago chain of lovely artisan sandwich shops that make me feel like I'm somewhere in Europe. Or at least in IKEA, but with something other than meatballs.

Imagine a bright, modern, airy space with sleek furniture, shining glass and metal surfaces, lots of natural light and a pop of color. Then imagine loads of interesting organic ingredients that go way beyond what you'll find at any national chain. Finally, imagine trays of fresh baked pretzel and wheat breads. Got that? You're in Hannah's.

 

Hannah's is one of my go-to spots if I'm trying to eat a lower-cal lunch. You can get a soup and salad combo that will fill you up without packing on calories. All items are made to order, and you can add extra vegetables, cheese, meat, and other ingredients for small upcharges. The line can be long, but it moves quickly. Plus it winds through the sandwich prep area, so you can eyeball all of the ingredients and watch the sandwiches being assembled. 



Ella's Salad with Vegetable Barley Soup

That's where I went today. I ordered my usual combo, the Ella's Salad and Vegetable Barley Soup. The meal registers 310 calories, which is amazingly low considering it's not a tiny amount of food.

First, the soup. Unlike some soups, you won't get halfway through the bowl and be out of everything but broth. Every bowl is thick with barley, celery, leeks, carrots and onions. The fresh vegetables are perfectly cooked and nowhere near mushy. The nutty barley is plentiful and adds a texture that reminds me of risotto. The only thing I think this soup needs is salt, which I always add. I suppose if you're watching your sodium intake, you'll appreciate this.

 

As for the salad, it's packed with organic greens and accented with Belgian endive, cubes of fresh mozzarella cheese, roasted grape tomatoes, white beans, chopped rosemary-infused asparagus and cashews. Greens are fresh and plentiful, cheese is smooth and chilled, tomatoes are roasted just enough to bring out the sweetness, and the asparagus is crisp and bright. The beans and nuts are unexpected but delicious additions.

The dressing is a homemade white balsamic vinaigrette that is both sweet and sour. This vinaigrette isn't oily at all, and it adds a lot of flavor to a salad that would be rather bland with a milder dressing.

Now if you're on a tight budget, you might not appreciate Hannah's. With tax, my combo set me back more than $10. On the other hand, everything is fresh, not loaded with fillers and preservatives. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. I think Hannah's is worth the splurge.

 

ITEM
Ella's Salad with Vegetable Barley Soup

EATERY
Hannah's Bretzel, 555 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL  60661

MENU DESCRIPTION
Salad: Organic mixed greens, Belgian endives, fresh mozzarella, roasted grape tomatoes, white beans, rosemary-infused asparagus and roasted cashews served with housemade white  balsamic vinaigrette.

Soup: Organic whole grain barley with celery, leeks, organic carrots and organic onions.

CALORIES:
310 (220 for salad and 90 for soup)
 

COST

$9.49 without tax

RECOMMEND?
Definitely

Chicken RCO Salad with Arugula

Luncheon starter salad

DAY 3: HOMEMADE

I’m glad my rules give me the flexibility to eat something other than salad for lunch one day per week because I attended a luncheon for work today and entrée salads were not on offer.

There was a starter salad, but it was insignificant. There were just a few dried cranberries, a couple of fresh blackberries and three roasted cashews over a little pile of spinach leaves dressed with light vinaigrette. Although it was fresh, it was neither exciting to look at nor exciting to taste.
To make up for lack of adventure at lunch, I made a salad for dinner.

Since tonight’s salad was spontaneous, I didn’t have a bounty of fresh produce. So I played a game of refrigerator clean-out. Hence the name of my salad: Chicken RCO (refrigerator clean-out) Salad with Arugula.

Arugula is one of my favorite greens. I love the peppery flavor it contributes to salads, sandwiches, chicken Milanese, pizza…the list goes on. It must be a favorite of many others, too, because it’s been really hard to find lately. I can usually get it at Whole Foods or Dominick’s, but I’ve seen barren shelves nearly every time I shopped this past month. Luckily I found some Earthbound Farm organic baby arugula at Whole Foods last weekend, so I had it on hand tonight.


Prepped RCO ingredients

We’re avid grillers in my house. Consequently, there’s usually some sort of grilled leftover in the fridge. Tonight, I found some chicken and asparagus courtesy of Monday’s dinner.

Then I went through the jars that are usually pushed towards the back of the fridge and dug out some Cucina Viva roasted red peppers from Greece and a jar of Pagliacci Greek peperoncini. Opa!

In the produce bin, there was leftover diced onion from the brats we grilled last night along with a fresh orange pepper from last weekend’s farmers’ market.

I chopped the chicken, asparagus, orange pepper, roasted red pepper and peperoncini, then set those ingredients aside with the pre-chopped onion. I put a couple handfuls of arugula in a big bowl and dressed it with Garlic Expressions Classic Vinaigrette from Whole Foods, which is really healthy and flavorful. I plated the dressed arugula, then piled on the chopped chicken and veggies. I added a few cherry tomatoes from the produce bowl that I keep on the counter. And I topped it all off with a few O Organics Cheese & Garlic Croutons to add some extra crunch. (If you like your salad heavily flavored with dressing, you can drizzle some vinaigrette over the veggies and mix it in before you add them to the arugula. I don't mind a lighter flavor so I omitted this step.)

The end result, Chicken RCO Salad with Arugula

With a blend of cooked and raw ingredients, the flavor profile of this salad was fairly complex. The vinegary peperoncini hit me first, with the roasted red peppers following closely behind. These flavors were balanced by the sweetness of the orange pepper, cherry tomatoes and Vidalia onion. The grilled asparagus added an earthy quality, and the chicken provided girth and substance. The peppery arugula held its own against those flavors, as did the garlicky croutons.

Although I would never enter this salad in a contest, it was a success—especially considering it was unplanned and built on the fly.

If I make this again, I’ll probably swap out the the peperoncini and asparagus for avocado and hard-boiled egg, and maybe I’ll add some feta.

Have you ever built an RCO salad? If so, I’d love to hear about it.

ITEM
Homemade Chicken RCO Salad with Arugula

INGREDIENTS
Grilled chicken, chopped
Grilled asparagus, chopped
Roasted red peppers, chopped
Vidalia onion, diced
Orange pepper, diced
Greek peperoncini, sliced
Cherry tomatoes
Baby arugula
Garlic Expressions Classic Vinaigrette
O Organics Cheese & Garlic Croutons

DIRECTIONS
Assemble and chop, slice and dice all ingredients. Mix together. If desired, dress lightly. Set aside. Dress and plate the arugula. Layer all prepped ingredients on the greens. Top with cherry tomatoes and croutons.

PREP TIME
Under 10 minutues