It’s that time of year again where so many of us resolve to eat better and get more active (can you relate?) I don’t enjoy dieting, I love eating good food, in moderation…most of the time. And I’m here to tell you that you can eat out, eat healthy and not compromise on the flavor.
Let’s start our healthy dining at our local Grassroots Kitchen and Tap with owner and Chef Chris Collins. Walking into the restaurant you know it’s a place where the locals frequent and the staff gets to know you. Chef Collins is overflowing with knowledge and passion about what he serves his guests and where it’s coming from. Which is what makes this joint a great place for healthy eating and community.
To start have some light and fresh Tuna Poke (pictured above) full of shrimp, avocado, scallions, jalapeno, cilantro, agave ponzu and wonton chips. Skip the chips and enjoy the protein and avocado for an even healthier starter.
The Scottish Salmon and farmer’s vegetable chop is a go to meal that we could eat a couple times a week and feel real good doing it. It’s a lightly grilled filet accompanied by a chop salad full of green cabbage, red beets, grapes, butternut squash, corn, radishes, cherry tomatoes, scallions, english cucumber, edamame, feta cheese, basil, parsley and a drizzle of champagne-vinaigrette. We guarantee you’ll clean that plate too!
The farm to table vegetable platter is nothing to smirk at, it’s packed with veggies and sure to fill you up. Local heirloom tomatoes & bleu crumbles, sautéed kale, thick grilled asparagus, green beans with tapenade and honey-drizzled texas toast will keep you going all afternoon.
Looking for something a bit more hearty, the spit fire chicken is brined for hours, cooked until succulent and crispy and then placed atop a piece of soaked bread, which is soaked in the chicken juices. These are the kind of dishes where you can taste the quality and the passion. You’ll leave feeling satisfied and your waistline won’t suffer. We applaud Chef for taking the time to source locally when he can but that he also makes sure the other products he serves are just as good for you to put in your body.
Need another healthy dinner option? Look no further than Sushi Roku inside the W for some of the best sushi in town. They have all kinds of healthy options and can make many dishes gluten free. We feasted on some of the healthiest dishes they had and we weren’t disappointment by any means.
We left our meal up in the very capable hands of Dan, the manager, or as you might call it, omakese. Dan knows his stuff and again, you can feel the passion for the food and the drinks pour out of him when he talks. He started us out with the most gorgeous presentation of sashimi which featured delectable salmon, tuna, mackerel, just to name a few. It was clean, it was smooth and it was high quality.
Next we tried the paper-thin slices of chilled yellowtail carpaccio with just enough diced chilies, olive oil and garlic ponzu to transform it into something extraordinary.
The following dish blew our socks off with the simple yet big flavors of the tuna and beet carpaccio paired with goat cheese and a mild yuzo miso. Had I not been pacing myself, this plate would have been licked clean.
For our last dish before the main course we were given the organic kale salad with king oyster mushrooms, crispy shitake and ginger plum vinagrette. A perfect health food rich in nutrients and full of flavor from the vinagrette and we loved the added crunch from the shitakes.
For our main course we had the baked cod “Saikyo-Yaki”in sweet miso and the grilled octopus with garlic, sea salt and olive oil. The cod flaked off perfectly, the fish had a nice crisp skin and the sweet miso was again a nice mild touch that caramelized on top of the cod. We would also like to rave about the grilled octopus and how tender it was. You know what I enjoyed most about this meal, how the main ingredients were really the star of each dish. With ingredients of this quality you don’t need to add a bunch of other stuff, they can stand up on their own. This is a great example of being able to go out to a nice restaurant and not needing to fall off your health wagon.
I hope you’re eating well and I hope you hit up one of these places soon. Till next time foodies. xo
7277 East Camelback Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
2119 E. Camelback Rd Suite A21
Phoenix, AZ 85016
or
8120 N. Hayden Ste E-100
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
