Archive | Saint Meals Out RSS feed for this section

Protein Bar

9 Nov

Protein Bar, a quick/casual restaurant that offers healthy, high-protein  meals passed the test for me earlier this week.  Currently, there are eight locations in Chicago and one in DC with another on the way in the District and another still in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, VA (very close to my home base.)  The ambiance was pretty slick and chic and the customer service was top-notch.  Our cashier offered suggestions and allowed us to tweak our items to exactly our liking.  For an area like DC full of active and busy people, Protein Bar is a perfect fit.

So the idea of this place, the interior, and customer service is great.  What about the food, Carrie?!  Here’s a look at their menu offerings which, yes, are quite tasty!  I was craving some keen-wah (properly spelled quinoa-Who just learned how to say that word?) and a smoothie.

I decided on the Spinach & Pesto bowl which includes all-natural chicken, organic quinoa, spinach, basil pesto, and shredded parmesan cheese.  The nutritionals?  Here they are: 371 calories, 21 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 805 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrates, 3 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 35 g protein.

In addition to the bowl, they had a special, seasonal smoothie that called to my inner pumpkin obsession.  While a 12 oz was fairly pricey (about $5),  I really enjoyed the combination of pumpkin puree, organic quinoa, almond milk, vanilla protein, pumpkin spice,  and pepitas.  For the 12 oz Pump-Quinoa treat, you are taking in 210 calories, 3.5 g fat,  .5 g saturated fat, 85 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 20 g sugar, and 18 g protein.

I’ve never had quinoa in a smoothie before!  I really enjoyed it and all this quinoa in my meal makes me want to have it more often.  This whole meal yielded me 53 g protein.  I was satisfied for a number of hours after it and plan to try more Protein Bar items when the Ballston location opens up.  Go visit Protein Bar in Penn Quarter at corner of  7th & D soon!  Have a great weekend all.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Greek Deli DC

8 Oct

Greek Deli on 19th Street NW in DC is lunch spot where you can expect a line every day of the week.  The line is indicative of just how amazing and authentic the greek cuisine offered there is.  Kostas Fostieris is the Chef and Owner of this gem of an establishment.  The man loves food and his customers and you can taste it in every bite in every dish you grab from there.  The gyro, the sides, the meatballs- I’ve not come across a single item that wasn’t extremely satisfying.

Last week I went on a little progressive eating outting with some co-workers.  First stop was Pinkberry for the last free greek yogurt Wednesday of a month or so long promotion.  I had a pretty decent turkey and avocado sandwich waiting for me at the office, but once co-workers suggested Greek Deli for lunch it wasn’t long before just walking with them to GD turned into just getting a side turned into getting the Wednesday meatball special (authentic greek meatballs with lemon and white wine sauce and a side of greek salad).  As I stood in line, I began to snap a few photos with the intention of writing about GD.  Next thing you know Kostas and his staff starting chanting about “Paparazzi!!!” and Kostas was around the front of the counter asking to take photos with us.  How fun!  I am such a fan of our friendly neighborhood Greek lunch spot :)  If you work around the Farragut West area and have not had Greek Deli, you know what needs to happen for lunch one day this week.  

Tags: , , , , ,

If I Had to Pick a Favorite Food…

22 Aug

…it’d be Vietnamese!  I’ve had some friends and followers ask what foods I love most.  It is tough tough tough to choose the top favorite, but when it comes down to it my head goes to Vietnamese.  I think this is for two reasons: 1) it’s just amazingly delicious and 2) my family and I used to go out for it a lot when I was growing up so it’s tied to memories as well.  In fact, my mom went into labor with my brother there in January of 1996…a few hours before the blizzard of ’96 snowed in the metro DC area.  They had to spend a number of additional days at the hospital because they were literally snowed in!  Our Vietnamese spot is called Saigon Cafe in Sterling, VA.

The photo above features Grilled Beef with Rice Noodle (grilled beef, carrots, cucumber, crushed peanuts, rice noodles, and fish sauce) and Spicy Saigon Vegetables.  Below is a pic of Vietnamese Spring Rolls (rice paper wrapping, rice noodles, pork, and shrimp) with peanut dipping sauce.  Some other favorites (not pictured) are Fried Spring Rolls and Chicken with Sweet Basil.  I always think of Vietnamese as lighter, fresher asian food as compared to Chinese.  If you haven’t tried before, pleaseeeeee do!

Tags: , , , ,

The Art of the Salad

6 Aug

Salads seems easy enough and they are but with a little finesse they are all the better.  Do you ever wonder why restaurants seem to offer salads that are more delicious than what you can whip up at home?  There are several key elements to make a salad as good as it can be.  Here are a few things to keep in mind to move closer to those restaurant caliber salads:

  1. Include several different tastes.  Strive for the inclusion of a combo that includes a variety of hits to the palette: sour, sweet, salty, and bitter.
  2. Balance textures.  Several mushy ingredients like soft cheese, tomato, and avocado are not what makes a fabulous salad.  I mean where is the crunch?!  Raw veggies, croutons or crushed pita chips, nuts etc. really liven up your salad.
  3. Start with a protein item and build out a salad based on what’s in for the season and hitting your points above (tastes/textures).  
  4. Consider getting in a number of your necessary nutrients by adding various colors of fruits/veggies.

Here are some salads that I love that meet the mark on the perfect balanced salad.

Brown Bag’s Roasted Chicken Salad (my favorite). Mixed Greens, chicken, Craisins, dates, sugared pecans, tomatoes, goat cheese and lime-cilantro vinaigrette.

Wiinkys Hawaiian Salad. Teriyaki chicken, romaine lettuce, red cabbage, pineapple, and peanuts.

Astor Mediterranean’s Greek Salad with Gyro or Chicken Kabob.  Romaine, mixed greens, red cabbage, carrot, cucumber, tomato, feta, kalamata olives, grape leaves, beets and pepperocini with house vinaigrette.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Seasons 52: Eating Out Never Felt So Un-fat

31 Jul

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Seasons 52 is known as a fresh grill and wine bar offering flavorful dishes that change seasonally.  Additionally, all dishes come in at under 475 calories!  We tried it for the first time a few weeks ago at the location in Tysons Corner Mall.  My oh my were our expectations blown out of the water.  The clean and casual meets refined atmosphere, the polished and friendly restaurant staff, and truly scrumptious yet healthy food offerings.  Of course, we were seeing The Dark Night Rises after dinner and the popcorn, candy, and Coke splurge was already planned rendering our healthy meal ruined HA.  In any case, you must try Seasons 52 and if Kristine is serving, you want her.  She was an absolute pleasure- the kind of waitress that you will talk about like I am now because she was so great.

The slideshow above showcases our meal experience including starter and entrees.  We were offered dessert at the end which includes a number of  choices from Season 52′s “Mini Indulgences” menu.  I had to snap a photo at the very least!  We had a little back and forth going on the appetizer choice having already chosen our entree selections.  My main dish choice was the Wood-Roasted Pork Tenderloin accompanied by herb polenta, cremini mushrooms, broccoli, and a shallot Dijon glaze.  I love me some polenta!  Bryan had a craving for the Roasted Artichoke-Stuffed Shrimp including wilted leaf spinach, pasta pearls, and a clam cioppino sauce.  We knew we wanted to try flatbread to start since our friend, Fahad, highly recommended it.  The trouble was that both of our top choices featured some of the same main ingredients in our entrees.   What a conundrum! Would it be Spicy Chipotle Shrimp with grilled pineapple, feta cheese, and roasted poblano peppers or Steak and Cremini Mushroom with fresh spinach and blue cheese crumbles.  Ultimately, we asked the waitress for her input and she quickly offered that Spicy Chipotle Shrimp was the way to go.  This means I won :P .  All kidding aside, we both won in the end because this whole dinner experience was superior to many other dinner outtings we’d had in the past.  We look forward to trying the next seasonal menu they have to offer.  There you have it- a glowing recommendation for Seasons 52!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday Breakfast of Champions: District Taco

21 Jul

I love those on a whim delicious meals and was fortunate to start my day with one today.  I had to get some routine car maintenance this morning so B followed me to drop my car at Midas for the day.  On the way back, Bryan was telling me about this highly Yelp rated taco/burrito spot down Columbia Pike he had heard of.  I explained I was down to try it sometime, but my head (and stomach) jumped elsewhere.  It landed on breakfast tacos from District Taco.  On Saturdays from 8 am – noon in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington there is a great farmers market featuring around 30 vendors.  Fresh produce, dairy, meats, among other food items are sold there.  Admittedly, we’ve gone by it a number of times just never bought anything or have a solid perusal.  We still didn’t purchase anything today either.  Oops.  The mission was to obtain breakfast tacos after all!  District Taco comes to the farmers market each week offering up corn or flour tortilla breakfast tacos as well as burritos from their traveling food cart.  I already know how ENAMORED I am by District Taco for lunch or dinner.  They have a freestanding location in North Arlington (the one we frequent), a location in NW DC, and the traveling food cart.  I like to think of DT as a fresher, more authentic Chipotle.  Each day DT makes everything from scratch.  Looooove.  I’ll share those food porn pics another day not to worry!

For $5, I got 2 breakfast tacos in corn tortillas as I feel corn trumps flour any day of the week.  Here is the nitty gritty on the contents of my tacos:

  1. Egg, cheese, chorizo sausage, pico de gallo, and guacamole
  2. Egg whites, bacon, fresh jalapeno, pico de gallo, and pinto beans

To make this breakfast even more champion-like, I paired it with a Starbucks Iced Skinny Caramel Macchiato.  I think I could bang out a do over like right now actually.  If you are an Arlington/DC resident or ya know what just let’s get really real here… a DC metro area resident/commuter, you are cheating yourself if you don’t find a way to try District Taco.  My name is Carrie Bean and I approve this message.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Pinkberry’s Greek Goodness

19 Jun

Recently, I grabbed Pinkberry fro yo as an afternoon snack during a particularly busy work week.  I don’t walk out of Pinkberry with less than a huge smile ever, but this time I was even happier because I got a voucher for a complimentary snack-sized Greek Goodness.  This is Pinkberry expanding its menu to include frozen as well as unfrozen yogurt.  Greek Goodness is the name for Pinkberry’s new greek yogurt menu items.  Honestly, had I not received this voucher I’d likely continue to go back to Pinkberry for their Salted Caramel, Original, or Pomegranate fro yo and toppings for the rest of time.  I’m thrilled I did though.  As you can see from the photo above, these greek yogurt creations come in sweet and savory varieties.  They also come in 2 sizes- snack and meal.  I chose the Kiwi concoction.  This included the greek yogurt, sliced kiwi, fresh strawberries, and mango as well as a lowfat honey almond granola and vanilla agave.  I think life started when I tried this agave.  Oh my goooooooosh.  I know it is often used in recipes to substitute for honey and is actually sweeter, but I don’t know why I’ve never tried it.  Kicking myself.  Overall, this greek yogurt snack was awesome.  It was reasonable too at 190 calories/ 2.5 g fat/ 19 g sugar (not much different than flavored Chobani greek yogurt per a frame of reference)/14 g protein.   You must give it a try!  It is offered with some degree of exclusivity however as Massachusetts, DC Metro area, and Southern California locations are the only spots that feature it currently.  Another plus for my DC friends to know is that our locations are open at 8 am to serve breakfast. That includes all DC, Maryland, and Virginia locations.  I suggest grabbing a meal size to kick off your day!  I know I’ll be doing that one day on my way to the metro.  Happy to have found a new summery snack and to have discovered this love of agave nectar.  Double win.  I’ll close with a photo of my snack-sized Kiwi Greek Goodness:

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Panache DC

14 Jun

My friends! I’m sorry I missed the mark for posting early this week.  I’m getting over being sick and hard as I tried I couldn’t get it together to post.  I have some good ideas lined up to make it up to you though.  Before I jump into B and I’s  recent new dinner adventure, it’s worth visiting a couple tips to avoid getting sick (or sicker as was the case for me.)  Eat well, sleep lots, and exercise are the basics.  Simple enough, but have an honest check in with yourself sometimes and assess if you are actually doing that.  If you feel like you’re developing something, don’t stack your schedule chock full of activities especially lots of walking or hiking ( I went hiking Monday for 2 1/2 hours.)  Rather, get some freaking rest.  Being honest with myself, I had been a little negligent on the sleeping.  Further,  I assumed allergies when I started feeling off early last week.  Then, I was in denial about being sick until I was in the thick of it feeling like total crap the past few days. Cherry on top:  I got Bryan sick too.  I’m a rotten human. Yup.  So my message is this:  Take care of yourselves! Who wants to be sick in the summer months when there is so much opportunity to do fun things?!

Back on track here…B and I just passed the 6 year mark of dating.  Good food is absolutely a must when there is anything to celebrate in our relationship.  We decided to try out a new restaurant and follow with dessert at Cold Stone Creamery.  Cold Stone makes Bryan insanely happy.  Look how genuine this smile is:

We had dinner at Panache located in DC across from the famous Mayflower hotel.  The ambiance is fairly casual but you get that upscale dining type of experience.  It is known for Mediterranean, French, and Spanish tapas.  We were in the mood for fish though so we decided to order the crab cakes and pan-seared mahi mahi special and share them.  I ordered a mixed salad and Bryan asked for French onion soup per some starters.  The presentation was very nice and the food came out quickly.  We were impressed that we ended up in and out in 50 minutes yet we did not feel rushed.  The mahi mahi came with a fresh, flavorful mango salsa on top and cilantro rice and steamed vegetables on the side.  The crab cakes were served with the steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes.  We both enjoyed the restaurant overall, but agreed we may not necessarily crave it on a regular basis.   I could, however, see us going back to try out the tapas selection!  Here are pics from dinner and keep on reading for Cold Stone deets.

Curious what we got at Cold Stone?  We’re both in LOVE with the All Lovin’ No Oven Signature Creation.  This includes the Cake Batter ice cream, fudge, cookie dough, and whipped cream.  We take this already awesome combo to another level though.  I add caramel to mine.  Bryan adds caramel AND brownie.  My topping addition almost warrants the next cup size up as not to overflow.  Bryan’s brownie, on the other hand, REQUIRES the cup size up because of the sheer mass it adds.  It’s pretty hilarious how the Cold Stone employees look at us when we order and funnier still that we get warned of the imminent cost increase associated with our addition of fatty goodness.  YES, we are fine with the extra $0.79!  Anyone craving Cold Stone now? Sorry about it…

Tags: , , , , , , ,

True or False?: All Wedding Food is Bad

19 May

I feel like we often hear that wedding food for lack of a better word sucks.  I actually have not had this experience much myself , but I certainly hear horror stories of the meat entree being frozen in the middle or the food being extremely bland.  As we approach the biggest wedding season of the year, I’d thought we should chat about it.  Of course, I’d love your comments- the good, the bad, and the ugly!

On the issue of cocktail hour, I would say I’ve never been unhappy.  This could have to do with the fact that I’m ready for a drink and some yummy sustenance depending on the length of the ceremony or that I’m hoping that crab cakes are going to happen.  Who knows?!  Either way little finger foods and dips work for me.  My friend, Adrienne, who got married in New Orleans in early March of this year had very tasty softball-sized crab cakes at her cocktail hour.  Seriously they were massive.  Bless you, Adrienne, bless you.  Shrimp, mini tart, or stuffed mushroom apps are crowd pleasers too in my mind.  Sometimes I feel bad for the cocktail hour servers because depending on the crowd pleasing level of the app, they either get swarmed or have to continuously offer their app selection to people.  The guy/girl with the crab cakes or shrimp are always stalked out hard.   

I have been to weddings with plated dinners and buffet-style dinners and I’d say there are pro’s and con’s to both.  Plated dinners are nice because you are getting served and can look forward to multiple courses.  On the downside, the food can come out cold and the dishes may be served very sporadically.  It’s no fun when everyone is doing the polite thing waiting for everyone at the table to be served and just oneeeee person does not have their food yet.  Also, the portion sizes leave much to be desired.  Buffets, on the other hand, offer a bunch of choices and you can choose your portion-sizes.  However, sometimes the good stuff runs out before you get to it.  I’ve heard of people ending up with just veggies for dinner and not because they are vegetarians.  ROUGH!  I do not envy the caterer’s job to please a big group with varying expectations and palettes.  I completely appreciate the challenge of serving so many.  I just wanted to share my general perspective on wedding cuisine. 

I’ll close with my most recent wedding experience which was last weekend.  I applaud that caterer as I thoroughly enjoyed the appetizers and the dinner.  Cocktail hour featured beef wellington, shrimp cocktail, mini BLT croissants, and hot crab as well as spinach dip.  The dinner menu is pictured below as well as some other photos for your viewing pleasure.  The crab cake first course was a win of course.  The groom is from Baltimore so you were not going to have a nasty crab cake served to you at this wedding.  The filet was cooked to my liking (medium), was still warm, and was accompanied by a few steamed asparagus spears and mashed potatoes.  No complaints!  The colors at the wedding were JMU-inspired purple and gold so everything including the cake was absolutely gorgeous.  The cake had a white cake with berry filling option and a moist (and higher quality) rich chocolate cake option.  True to form Bryan and I grabbed opposite flavors and shared.  Congratulations on your marriage, Craig and Elizabeth…and on your great food choices for your guests :)    

Tags: , , , , ,

A Favorite Breakfast: Ah-sigh-eee Bowls from South Block Smoothie and Wrap Co.

17 May

Coco Rio Acai Bowl

By ah-sigh-eee, I mean acai bowl.  Many people, myself included, aren’t sure of the pronounciation at first so I thought I’d add that educational segment into this post.  South Block Smoothie & Wrap Co. is this fantastic spot walking distance from my house that offers a variety of healthy smoothies and wraps as well as espresso beverages.  Perhaps my favorite menu item however is their acai bowl, specifically the Coco Rio bowl. 

The Coco Rio bowl includes blended organic acai, strawberries, mangos, and passion guava juice and is topped with fresh banana, shredded coconut, and organic hemp and flaxseed granola.  It is very satisfying and under 400 calories.  Paired with an Iced Vanilla Latte or Nutella or Milky Way Latte (if you want to be a little sinner-ish), the Coco Rio bowl starts my day with a smile.  Bryan would argue the better day starter is the California Bowl.  I’ll have him give you his take…

Bryan on South Block’s California Bowl:

What Carrie fails to tell you is that this guy-yes, this guy- discovered this gem.  Although at first I pronounced it as ahhhh-kaaaaaaa (like a parrot), Carrie immediately corrected me that it was ah-sigh-eeeeeeeeee.

Anyways, Carrie thinks she is making the best choice by going with the Coco Rio bowl, however she is sorely mistaken and you should go with the California Bowl.  Don’t get me wrong, the Coco Rio bowl is delicious, but an added ingredient makes mine stand apart.  The California Bowl has acai, frozen blueberries and bananas, and soymilk all blended together to make a smoothie-like texture.  It is then topped with flaxseed granola,  fresh blueberries, and bananas.  What sets this one apart is (drum roll please)…adding peanut butter. Lots of it.  Once you add the creamy PB into the mix, the sweetness from the acai and fruit make it taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  It makes your mouth go ohhmmaalooooorddddd.

Who doesn’t love the taste of a cold PBJ topped with crunchy granola?  And for those Spartans out there, you can add a scoop of protein into the mix which doesn’t take away from any of the flavorful goodness.

Back to Carrie:

Well, the worst part of your trip to South Block is going to be deciding between these two delicious options.  Maybe go with a friend or your sig other so you can split?  Or simply go back multiple times!  When you try it once, I pretty much guarantee you will anyway.  Which one is making your mouth water the most?

Tags: , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,007 other followers