Greek Salad

DAY 15: PANERA BREAD

Greek Salad from Panera

One of the many things I love about Panera is the customer loyalty program, MyPanera. When you sign up, you'll start receiving email offers. Mine come every week or two and have included free smoothies, free beverages and coupons for discounts on salads. 

Today I had a coupon for $2 off a salad that was set to expire, so I headed to Panera for one of my favorites, the Greek Salad. Like all Panera salads, it's made to order with fresh, chilled ingredients and served with a hunk of fresh baguette.

Panera's Greek is very traditional. A generous bed of cold, fresh romaine lettuce is covered with sliced red onion, chunks of deep red tomato, pitted kalamata olives, several whole peperoncini and a liberal sprinkling of feta cheese.

Served with a flavorful, thick vinaigrette, it's a simple salad. But the way the ingredients combine together really satisfies me. The crisp lettuce, ripe but firm tomato, sharp onion, briny kalamata olives, spicy peperoncini and creamy feta work well with the rich, acidic dressing.

Although the dressing is thicker and creamier than most Greek vinaigrettes, it's salty and hints of oregano, just like the homemade salad dressing you might get down in the heart of Chicago's Greektown on Halsted Street—or better yet, on the island of Santorini. With a generous size and lots of flavor, it feels like much more than 350 calories.

In addition to wonderful taste and healthy ingredients, this salad has a reasonable price, only $5.99 without tax. It's one of Panera's café salads, which are vegetarian and on the lower end of the price scale. Like all Panera salads, you can add chicken or shrimp, but I'm always satisfied without adding protein.

With my $2-off coupon, Panera's Greek Salad was one of the better buys I've had since embarking on this adventure. I can't wait to see what reward MyPanera gives me next.

ITEM
Greek Salad

EATERY
Panera Bread at 250 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606

MENU DESCRIPTION
Romaine lettuce, vine-ripened tomatoes, feta cheese, peperoncini, red onions, Kalamata olives, pepper & our Greek dressing.

CALORIES
380

COST
$3.99 before tax with $2-off coupon

RECOMMEND
Definitely

Salad Trio

DAY 13: CORNER BAKERY

Trio Salad from Corner Bakery

If you live in Chicago, chances are you know Corner Bakery. In some areas of the city, this chain is nearly as ubiquitous as Starbucks. For example, in my building alone, there are two locations.

Corner Bakery has a diverse menu that includes several entree salads as well as side salads. If you're in the mood for variety, you can can choose three side salads and build a Salad Trio. Choices vary but might include tuna salad, chicken salad, pasta salad, caesar salad and fruit salad.

I went for a Trio today. I chose the cavatapi pasta salad, the mozzarella tomato arugula salad and the seasonal fruit medley. With that came a garnish of mixed greens dressed with vinaigrette plus a foccacia roll.

Altogether, my choices added up to 410 calories. With another 100 calories for the fresh, chewy, salty foccacia roll, this lunch was 10 calories over my 500 calorie limit. I let the overage slide. After all I’m sure I burned at least 10 calories when I walked a couple of blocks to eat my lunch in the park.

Focaccia roll from Corner Bakery

I’ve been eating Trios for a long time. When I started more than ten years ago, the salads and greens were all piled together in a plastic container. That was fine if everything had a similar flavor profile, but it didn’t work if you had three distinctly different salads.

Now, the salads are separated. In my situation, the greens and pasta salad were put directly into a square plastic container, but the mozzarella tomato arugula salad and fruit salad were put in separate cups. Having had vinaigrette bleed into my fruit, I actually appreciate the care that goes into this method of packaging.

Being a sucker for pasta salad, I started with the cavatapi salad. I was not disappointed. The pasta is cooked al dente and dressed with a super flavorful white balsamic vinaigrette. Roasted garlic, diced asiago cheese, roasted tomatoes, basil and arugula round out this dish. The garlic makes a strong statement, which I appreciate. There are only a few pieces of deliciously roasted tomato, but they’re large enough to cut up and stretch into many bites. Although the asiago is diced into very small pieces, it’s plentiful and its mild, nutty flavor is persistent. Finally, the sweet basil and peppery arugula add greenery and compliment the other ingredients. Frankly I could have had a big bowl of this salad and been really, really happy.

But I didn’t. I moved on to the mozzarella tomato arugula salad. It’s delicious and bright, but with much less flavor than the pasta salad. In retrospect, I should have started with this milder dish. Equal parts of sliced marinated cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and arugula are accented with fresh basil and a lemon garlic dressing. With the creamy cheese, cold tomatoes and zippy greens, I think this is a great albeit light summer salad.

From there I moved to the greens. The menu says they’re a garnish, and that’s accurate. I counted ten pieces of lettuce. But with the sweet and spicy vinaigrette, it’s definitely fresh and tasty.

I finished with the fruit. It contains all of my favorites—pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, apples and cantelope. All of the fruit is perfectly ripe and in beautiful shape. It’s cold and sweet, the way a good fruit salad should be. It makes a great dessert.

But I actually ate my foccacia roll as dessert. I saved it for last because I wanted to see if the salads alone would satisfy me. But frankly, the portions in the Trio are not very big, and I wasn’t entirely satisfied, so I dove into the delicious bread.

Although I really enjoyed the variety and tastes of these salads, the combination didn’t quite fill me up. About halfway through the afternoon, I started feeling hungry. I ended up eating a Kind bar to hold myself over until dinner.

I suspect this is my own fault, though, because I concocted a carb-heavy lunch. Next time I order a Trio, I’ll pay as much attention to the protein as I do to the calories, and hopefully I’ll end up with something that fills me enough to keep me from snacking before dinner. I'm already studying the nutritional information and plotting my next visit.

ITEM
Trio Salad

EATERY
Corner Bakery Cafe, 444 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60606

MENU DESCRIPTION
Cavatapi pasta salad: Roasted tomatoes, Asiago cheese, basil, roasted garlic and arugula in white balsamic dressing.
Mozzarella tomato arugula: Marinated tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, arugula and basil with lemon garlic dressing.
Seasonal fruit medley: A delicious assortment of the season's freshest fruits.
Mixed greens salad (garnish): Field greens tossed in our sweet and spicy house vinaigrette.

CALORIES
510 (Cavatapi pasta salad = 150, mozzarella tomato arugula =160, seasonal fruit medley = 70, mixed greens salad = 30 + focaccia roll = 100)

COST
$8.27 with tax

RECOMMEND
Definitely, unless you like big portions

Chicken & Avocado Salad

DAY 4: PRET A MANGER

Pret A Manger's Chicken & Avocado Salad

I’ve been traveling to London on business for many years. I remember the first time I went into the Pret A Manger sandwich shop that was across the street from my company's London office. I was struck by the amount of mayonnaise on everything. I also remember there being a lot of sandwiches with fish. Not just tuna, but things like crayfish, smoked salmon and prawns. There were a lot of squirrelly combos too. Cheddar and pickles on a baguette, anyone? Not quite my cup of tea.

Hop the pond and jump ahead a decade, and how things have changed.

Pret started expanding into the U.S. several years ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see a wide range of healthy sandwiches sans the mayonnaise and funky fish varieties that seemed to permeate the menu in London. Pret’s American-style sandwiches and soups worked their way into my lunch routine.

Pret recently opened a new café across the street from my office. I’ve started putting some of their salads into my lunch rotation. They’re a little higher in calories than some of my other regular lunch picks, but they’re still within range and very fresh. I also appreciate that calorie counts are clearly listed for every single selection. With plenty of choices under 500 calories, there’s no excuse for going over my target.

On Day 4 (which was actually Friday), I was craving Pret. Possibly due to the unseasonably cool, rainy, London-ish weather that’s settled in Chicago all too frequently this spring.

The salads at Pret are premade, but they're assembled on site and brought out to the coolers all day long. There’s a good chance your food was prepared within the hour—and if you go during the lunch rush, the food will probably be even fresher. At that time of day it typically flies off the shelves so fresh food keeps coming out.

My choice, the Chicken Avocado Salad, is beautifully arranged in a nice-sized cardboard container with a plastic top, much like the to-go containers used at Panera. There’s a thick bed of mesclun with thin strips of seasoned grilled chicken, huge chunks of ripe avocado, sliced tomatoes, dried cranberries and walnuts.

Dressings are served on the side, so you can pick whatever sounds good to you. I chose the Skinny Vinaigrette, which adds only 15 calories to the salad without sacrificing flavor. It's modeled after a traditional champagne vinaigrette, but it's oil-free so has no fat. The overarching taste is acidic, but there's a layer of sweetness that comes from honey. It seems more robust than 15 calories.

My salad was super fresh, with bright green avocado grabbing my attention first. Avocado is one of my favorite salad ingredients, so I love that Pret puts two generous chunks—practically half an avocado—in this dish. It goes really well with the seasoned chicken and sweet cranberries, while the walnuts add crunch plus nuttiness to round out the flavors.

If I had one complaint, it would be that the tomatoes were pretty tasteless. I’m curious to see if the taste improves once we enter peak tomato season.

With only five ingredients plus greens, I wouldn’t call this a complex salad. Nothing overpowers or distinguishes this from salads you might eat elsewhere. But it’s so bright and carefully prepared. That makes it stand out from some of the others that are thrown together in a pretty sloppy fashion. It’s filling, too. I ate at noon and didn’t feel hungry until I boarded my 6:30 train.

The week ended with another salad success.

ITEM
Chicken & Avocado Salad

EATERY
Pret A Manger, 120 South Riverside Plaza, Chicago, IL 60606

MENU DESCRIPTION
Grilled chicken (antibiotic free), avocado, tomatoes, mesclun, cranberries, walnuts, Pret's seasoning.

CALORIES
455

COST
$8.28 with tax

RECOMMEND?
Definitely

Zesty Chicken and Black Bean Salad Bowl

Image courtesy of Starbucks

DAY 1: STARBUCKS

I imagine you think this is a strange place for me to begin. I mean, who thinks of salad when they think of Starbucks? Certainly not me.

But every Starbucks in my area has a small selection of grab-and-go salads in the refrigerator case. And with a coupon for 50% off the item of my choice set to expire this week, I was motivated to make my first blogged-about adventure in lettuce a Starbucks salad.

I chose the Zesty Chicken and Black Bean Salad Bowl, which includes chicken, black beans, corn, jicama, tomatoes, feta, greens and quinoa with a chili vinaigrette.

Like all Starbucks salads, this one is prepackaged, with an ample supply of dressing nestled inside the deep, square container. The lid comes off easily. The directions say to add the dressing, replace the lid and shake. Apparently this is the way to perfectly distribute the dressing. Naturally, I didn't look at the directions until I'd already stirred in my dressing, so you'll have to measure the effectiveness of this method yourself if you're curious.

I must admit that prepackaged salads can be a drag. If you don't like all the ingredients or the dressing, you'll have to pick out the offensive items or supply your own dressing. Luckily, everything in the Zesty Chicken and Black Bean Salad Bowl sounded and looked appetizing to me

My first impression was that this salad could not have been more than a few hours old. It was FRESH, with none of the wilting or mushiness that often invades prepackaged salads.

I think this is due in large part to the way the salad is assembled. The heavier ingredients (chicken, quinoa, grape tomatoes, black beans and corn) are layered under the lettuce, with nothing but thin strips of seasoned jicama atop the greens. The ingredient proportions are balanced and generous, with enough of everything to ensure there will never be a bite with only lettuce.

The dressing is thick, with a rich reddish-orange color courtesy of pureed tomatoes, red papers and chilis. It's definitely not spicy though, so don't get scared off by the presence of chilis if you're heat-averse. It has a unique mix of sweet, smoke and tang that complements the ingredients perfectly.

I really loved the way the flavors of the salad combine. The earthy black beans and sweet corn play off each other with the delicate chicken. The roasted tomatoes add a nice acidity, the feta a punch of creamy saltiness, and the jicama a refreshingly light crunch. The quinoa, which on its own isn't much to dream about, provides substance and knits together all of the ingredients. And of course there is lettuce, a nice spring mix that neither overpowers nor underwhelms.

The salad itself isn’t large, but the ingredients are dense, so I was satisfied and full until dinnertime—roughly six hours after finishing lunch.

Yes, my maiden adventure was a success.

ITEM 
Zesty Chicken and Black Bean Salad Bowl

EATERY
Starbucks at 139 South Clinton Street, Chicago, IL 60661

MENU DESCRIPTION
A blend of grilled chicken, black beans, roasted corn, jicama, tomatoes, feta, spring greens and quinoa with mild chili vinaigrette.

CALORIES
360

COST 
$3.83 after 50 percent off coupon and sales tax

RECOMMEND?
Definitely