Chicken Caesar Salad

DAY 8: ALONTI MARKET & CAFÉ

I had big plans for lunch today. I was going to pick up a salad from a unique spot in the Loop. (That's what we Chicagoans call the downtown area that's inside the L tracks that cut through the city, forming a giant loop.)  But it’s a bit of a walk from my office, and I ended up needing extra time to prepare for a meeting, so I had to make a different plan on the fly.



Alonti's Chicken Caesar Salad

I decided on a Chicken Caesar Salad* from Alonti, which is very close to my building. In addition to Chicago, they operate locations in Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Orange County, CA. Alonti isn’t fancy, but the selection is diverse. You can make your own lunch at the salad and soup bar or the hot buffet; grab something that’s pre-made; or stand in line for a made-to-order sandwich, hot entrée plate or salad. The Caesar, which is fairly reliable, is on the made-to-order menu, so I ordered from the counter.

If you go there during the lunch rush, the lines can be deep, but the staff moves fast. Consequently, the counter can be a little bit of a mess, with ingredients from one container spilled into another, food on the counter, food on the floor…you get the picture. They’re always trying to clean up, but it’s kind of crazy. Later in the day, it’s usually more orderly. Of course, I went during the rush and it was a little manic. 

But my salad was made quickly, and the staffer, as always, was courteous. No complaints.

Back at my desk, I unpacked my salad. Alonti salads come in plastic bowls with clear lids. My salad was as big as it could be, with the typical ingredients: romaine, parmesan cheese, homemade croutons and homemade Caesar dressing.

Since so many people are trying to be health conscious about their ingredients and portions, the staff at Alonti always asks if you want one or two scoops of dressing. I appreciate that. Given the size of the salad, I always find that one scoop is plenty. Once scoop appears to be 2 tbs., which is a solid amount.

For me, one downside to eating here is that the ingredient measurements are not consistent from one order to the next. One day they’re generous, the next day they’re skimpy. That means I usually have no idea how many calories are in my food.


This is what went in the trash

Unfortunately, today’s salad was heavy on croutons and cheese, which are two ingredients that can throw a salad’s calorie count above 500. I knew I’d be in trouble if I cleaned my bowl, so I pecked and picked to get at the chicken and lettuce.

The quality of the salad ingredients is average. The romaine is fresh, but not uniformly cut into manageable pieces. You will probably need a knife to eat this one. The roasted chicken is fine, but sometimes not trimmed very well. Today, for example, I had a piece that was really gristly. That ended up in a napkin. The parmesan cheese is of the store-bought shredded variety. Certainly edible and not offensive, but not special. The croutons are homemade, but I won’t rave about them. They don’t have enough crunch or flavor to be memorable. The salad is dressed with a homemade Caesar dressing that’s creamy and heavy on garlic. It adds a lot of flavor, and I like it. But I’ll tell you what: make sure you have some gum or mints on hand after you eat this one or you'll be ostracized for a bit.

I wasn’t crazy about this lunch. I wish I could have swapped some of the cheese and croutons for lettuce, or at least for chicken. I ended up throwing away a fair amount of food. But it's not a budget buster, I didn't get hungry as the afternoon went on—and my meeting went really well.

Oh, and tomorrow is Friday. The sun is shining, and it looks like it's going to stick aroud for at least one more day.

As I said before, no complaints.

*Alonti's cafe menu isn't online (at least not that I could find), so I linked to the catering menu. It's the same food, just larger portions.

EATERY
Alonti Market & Café, 300 South Riverside Plaza #150, Chicago, IL 60606

ITEM
Chicken Caesar Salad

MENU DESCRIPTION
Roasted chicken, parmesan cheese, homemade croutons, Caesar dressing.

CALORIES
740 (if you eat the whole thing)

COST
$6.19 before sales tax

RECOMMEND?
In a Pinch

Samantha Salad

DAY 5: SOPRAFFINA MARKETCAFFÉ

Sopraffina Marketcaffé (or simply Sopraffina) is a small Chicago chain serving fast-casual Italian food. The menu is diverse, including quite a few salads, and everything is made to order. I haven't been here in a couple of years, but I was in the mood to venture off the beaten path today. So to Sopraffina I went.

I didn't look at the nutrition information online before I left the office, which was a bad move because the menu board at the café doesn't include calorie counts. I crossed my fingers and hoped that I could choose a salad that fell within my 500-calorie limit. Luckily, I was on target with my selection, the Samantha Salad, which has 485 calories, including the low-fat honey mustard dressing.


Sopraffina's Samantha Salad

The Samantha is very simple, with a mix of romaine lettuce, antibiotic-free chicken breast, sliced roma tomatoes, fresh parmesan, strips of red, yellow and green bell pepper, and croutons. Dressing is measured and tossed into the salad, but you can request it on the side if you'd like. I had mine tossed.

This is a wonderfully bright salad that will probably please vegetable lovers who appreciate bell peppers. The lettuce, which is practically all romaine, is plentiful and super crisp, as are the peppers, which are slightly sweet and very crunchy. The thinly sliced roma tomatoes are deep red and juicy.



The chicken, which is rather sparse but cut into good-sized chunks, adds substance to the veggies. Unlike some salad chicken that seems processed and blah, this chicken is fresh from the bone, very nicely seasoned and tastes like it's been rotisserie roasted. It's delicious.

The shredded parmesan compliments the vegetables with a nutty, salty flavor, and the dense homemade croutons add a substantial crunch.

The menu pairs this salad with low-fat honey mustard dressing. Although I don't usually choose honey-mustard, I decided to go with it here since it was recommended and low in fat. I was glad that I did. The mustard has a little kick along with sweetness that adds some excitement to an otherwise mild salad.

I wouldn't put this on my list of OMG salads, but I'd definitely order it again if dining at Sopraffina in the summer. It's filling and fresh but won't weigh you down. If you aren't looking for something complex or unique—and if you like peppers—give it a try.

ITEM

Samantha Salad

EATERY

Sopraffina Marketcaffé, 222 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL  60606

MENU DESCRIPTION

Mixed greens with sliced chicken breast, roma tomatoes, vegetables, fresh parmesan, croutons, fat free honey mustard dressing.

CALORIES

485

COST

$8.72 with tax

RECOMMEND?

Definitely, unless you don't like bell peppers

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