Here are five vegetable-laden dishes that will put a spring in your step without overloading your stomach.
Chicken Veggie Soup
Nurture your body with Ernesto’s steaming trough of chicken veggie soup, crowded with zucchini, mushrooms, diced carrots, onions and even some creamy hunks of avocado—all floating in a nutritious tomato broth. Served up with the restaurant’s chewy, satisfying flour tortillas, this is comfort in a bowl.
Ernesto’s Mexican Food, 1901 16th St., Sacramento, (916) 441-5850
Fuji Apple Salad
A frothy mound of crunchy refreshment, this enormous butter lettuce-based salad is punctuated with spicy-sweet caramelized pecan halves, slim slices of Fuji apple and blue cheese crumbles, all tossed in a subtly fruity apple dressing. It’s light, it’s pretty and it’s the perfect repast for anyone weary of heavy food.
Greenhouse Restaurant & Brewery, 1595 Eureka Road, Roseville, (916) 789-1900
Portobello Burger
We all get a hankering for a nice plump hamburger once in a while. Instead of the traditional variety, which can leave you feeling bloated and guilt-ridden, try Burgers and Brew’s excellent Portobello Burger. Served up on a delicious bun (baked by local Village Bakery) slathered with roasted red pepper mayonnaise, the burger features a thick, delicious slab of grilled mushroom with pickle slices, lettuce, onion and tomato.
Burgers and Brew by Crepeville, 403 Third St., Davis, (530) 750-3600
Thai Pumpkin and Tofu Green Curry
Pumpkin . . . in a Thai stir-fry? You bet. Savor the creamy, orange chunks of squash in Chada Thai’s fragrant, complex green curry sauce, jumbled with tender squares of tofu and a colorful mélange of precisely cut vegetables, including carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms and onions. This is a spectacular vegetarian dish.
Chada Thai Cuisine, 1624 Broadway, Sacramento, (916) 444-8909
Asparagus and Spinach Spaghettini
California Pizza Kitchen offers far more than just its creative pizzas. Try this terrific pasta, made with delicate, thin noodles in a buttery, parmesan-flecked sauce. It features just-crispy-enough sautéed asparagus and silky spinach, with diced tomato and a tantalizingly herbaceous smack of fresh basil leaves. The portion is huge—share some with a friend.
California Pizza Kitchen, Market Square at Arden Fair, 1735 Arden Way, #220, Sacramento, (916) 568-0932
