Month: January 2019

As we begin 2019, many of us set intentions, goals and resolutions. We intend to start the year with a fresh slate and reset for another trip around the sun. I am personally always striving to create balance in my life. I like to remind myself of this intention throughout the year and look at the many aspects of my life where I can improve and maintain balance.

As a Chef, food and diet are always at the top of my mind. I know this is not unique to myself and I would guess that many people quickly jump to food when trying to achieve a balanced life. After all, what we feed ourselves directly impacts how we feel. This is true in both the short term and long term. The short term is the satisfying of the basic feeling of hunger or a craving. This often initially drives my decision on what to eat. I try to balance this short-term satisfaction while remembering the long-term impact. In my ideal scenario I hit both my short term and long-term goals for the perfect balance in each meal.

In designing the Urban Plates menu, I wanted to ensure we maintain this balance of healthy, indulgent and combination of both in our menu items. We have a selection of seasonal menu changes to highlight produce at its peak, along with a core menu you can rely upon.

Our menu categories allow you to choose your path. For the healthier route you might choose one of our Urban Greens salads. We have carefully created each salad to satisfy hunger, provide bold flavors, and leave you feeling good about what you just ate. Our salads are full of nutrients and offer well-rounded nourishment. Most salads feature one of our hot carved-to-order proteins that we also feature in our Plates and Sandwiches. We make all of our dressings in house and use organic oils, fresh citrus juices and specialty vinegars. We offer a wide variety of flavor profiles so you can satisfy your craving, whether that be a health-conscious vegetarian option, like our Antioxidant Salad, or a more indulgent option, like our Cage Free Chicken Cobb. Whether you choose to eat healthy, indulgent, or a little bit of both, quality ingredients and time-honored scratch-cooking techniques are at the center of our menu.

This January, new and returning items feature on our menu to fit right into your balanced lifestyle.

Striped Sea Bass

Our Striped Sea Bass is a beautiful fish sourced carefully from the pristine marine sanctuary of Isla Todos Santos in Baja California, Mexico. Pacifico Striped Bass is ocean raised and is rated 4 stars by Best Aquaculture Practices, the world’s most trusted, comprehensive and proven third-party aquaculture certification program. This fish has a clean and moist mouth feel, semi- firm texture with a clean and light flavor. We marinate the filets in our scratch made light white miso sauce that incorporates ginger, garlic, scallions and chili. We oven bake the filets and the miso sauce caramelizes during the baking process to enhance the flavors of the miso and create a rich and buttery flavor profile. We finish each filet with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and our sesame ginger chili sauce made with tamari, ginger, garlic, a hint of chili, sesame oil and our house made lemongrass vinegar. The buttery miso roasted fish is balanced perfectly by the bright and lightly tangy sesame ginger sauce. The fresh raw ginger adds a kick of spice and keeps this dish fresh. This fish is a great health conscious entrée that I like to pair with our sesame broccolini and organic brown rice or white rice.

Heaven & Hell Cake

Sometimes we just need a little bit of indulgence. Our pastry chef created the Heaven & Hell cake with this theme in mind. Our version of this classic dessert inspired by Chef Stephan Pyle’s original cake has alternating layers of fluffy, ethereal angel food cake and rich, moist devil’s food cake filled with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. We finish the cake with house roasted, lightly spicy crunchy peanuts and a mound of chocolate shavings. It is the perfect combination of rich chocolate, lightly sweet mellow vanilla, luscious nutty peanut butter flavor and hint of salt to balance it all out! I love how light this cake eats and of course the stunning appearance of the different color cake layers and perfectly thin, melt in your mouth chocolate shavings! You can keep the slice to yourself or order a whole cake for the family.

Green Superfood Replenisher

All of our replenishers are made in house with fresh whole ingredients to provide you with real flavors and plenty of nutrient benefits. Our Green Superfood replenisher is a hearty and healthy option made with organic baby kale, celery, cucumber, fresh lemon juice, raw ginger, parsley, pineapple, chia seeds and naturally sweetened with organic apple juice. There is no added sugar! Kale is loaded with antioxidants that can help lower cholesterol. Ginger is an excellent anti-inflammatory and chia seeds contain omega-3 fatty acids, protein, fiber and calcium. This replenisher is packed with nutrient dense ingredients and that boost your immune system. It’s the perfect balance of vegetable and lightly natural fruit sweetness. It’s a great pick me up that satisfies your quench and gives you that long term health impact, the perfect balance!

Kombucha

Another healthy beverage we offer is GT’s Kombucha. We have a new flavor, Pure Love, in addition to the popular Trilogy. Kombucha is a fermented tea-based drink often flavored with fruits and herbs. The brewing process starts with a culture made from black and green teas. This culture is what makes the drink rich with probiotics, amino acids, polyphenols, antioxidants and active enzymes. GT’s makes their kombucha with no added sugars and is raw and organic, meaning you get the full health benefits! It is great for balancing your gut health, improves digestion, and fights free radicals in your body to give you an immune boost.

Both flavors have the classic tangy taste that is similar to apple cider vinegar. Some people are skeptical of this at first, but once you have tried this refreshing beverage (on tap at all Urban Plates locations) you’ll see why it has become a trend.

The Trilogy is a combination of tart lemon, tangy raspberry and spicy ginger. This is one of the most popular flavors and a personal favorite. We are offering Pure Love, a limited-edition flavor, made with fresh pressed blood orange juice, dried hibiscus, rose petals and rose water. It has a fruity and floral flavor profile that is perfect for the season.

The post A Balanced Life: When To Be Healthy and When To Indulge appeared first on Urban Plates.