Healthy Eats at Chipotle

Chipotle Mexican Grill is the go to place for many people in Toronto for quick burritos and burrito bowls. They recently launched a nutrition calculator and pride themselves in using fresh ingredients, without artificial flavours. I’ve been on a health kick the last few months, trying to improve my eating habits (not easy as a food blogger... LoL) and Chipotle has been a great option as you can customize exactly what goes into your bowl or burrito. The nutrition caluclator on their website is very useful for customizing a healthy Chipotle meal to fit into any lifestyle. This is especially great for those who count macros, as they provide extensive nutrition info including calories, protein, carbohydrates, sugars and fats. I have listed below some tasty calorie conscious combinations for Chipotle (under 600 calories), made up of their fresh farm sourced ingredients. 

Burrito Bowl: 590 Calories 
• Chicken 
• Brown Rice 
• Fajita Vegetables 
• Roasted-Chili Corn Salsa 
• Sour Cream 
• Romaine Lettuce 

Salad: 565 Calories 
• Romaine Lettuce 
• Barbacoa 
• Fajita Vegetables 
• Fresh Tomato Salsa 
• Roasted-Chili Corn Salsa 
• Vinaigrette 

Burrito: 570 Calories 
• Tortilla 
• Sofritas 
• Fajita Vegetables 
• Roasted-Chili Corn Salsa 
• Fresh Tomato Salsa 
• Romaine Lettuce

21 Day #HealthyAroma Challenge Results

I recently completed the #healthyaroma challenge and I must say, I feel great. For 21 straight days, I ate 2 meals from Aroma Espresso Bar each day. My diet consisted of high protein, low carb meals and my goal was to improve my lifestyle through healthy eating and exercise. For the third meal of each day, I tried my best to eat mindfully at food events or cooked healthy high protein, low carb meals. The #healthyaroma challenge was very successful as I was able to lose 13 lbs in 21 days. During this time, I also started an exercise program of cardio and strength training 3-4 days a week, including some pickup basketball. Check out the before and after pictures below. Pretty siginificant changes over the 21 days! Keep in mind that before the challenge, I had just gained some weight from a trip to Asia where I ate an insane amount of delicious food.

Day 1

Day 13

Day 21- lost a total of 13 lbs!

I approached my friends at Aroma Espresso Bar because I knew Aroma had a wide variety of healthy food options including a great selection of salads that would help me achieve my goal. One of the hardest parts about going on a healthy eating diet is meal prep and leaving this part to Aroma made it much easier. They have locations all around Toronto from downtown all the way to Vaughan and Markham, which was convenient for me as I spend my time travelling all over the city for food events and work as a physiotherapist. I was able to visit 14 different Aroma’s in the 21 days. I tried many different healthy items from their menu, including all 11 of their Salads, the Aroma Power Breakfast, Organic Oatmeal, Muesli and their Breakfast on the Go. Nutritional information for each menu item is available on their website which made it easy to help track what I was eating. There were a few items I enjoyed so much that they became a staple in my #healthyaroma diet. Here are my top 5 favourite healthy food items at Aroma Espresso Bar:

1. Aroma Hash- An all day Mediterranean style breakfast option with chicken, turkey and potato hash on top of arugula with a sunny side up egg on top of fresh in store baked bread. All of this sits on a layer of yogurt, sprinkled with za’atar spices and served with syrup and lemon olive oil dressing. You get a little bit of everything and the syrup tastes great but is optional if you want to be super healthy!
   
2. Aroma All-Day Power Breakfast- This was my go to item whenever I had the time to sit down and eat at the Aroma locations. The All-Day Power Breakfast is served with 2 eggs (any style), mixed greens, chopped tomato and cucumber salad, shredded carrots, a scoop of cream cheese, a scoop of feta, a scoop of avocado spread, 5 olives and your choice of fresh baked bread (I opted out of the bread almost every time to stick to my low carb, high protein diet) 
   
3. Warm Chickpea Salad- This was definitely my favourite salad from Aroma. A salad loaded with chickpeas, tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley, hardboiled egg, garlic croutons (I skipped the croutons during this challenge). It is served with a lemon olive oil dressing and tahini. The tahini, which is basically ground sesame paste really compliments this salad.
   
4. Freekeh Salad- This is one of the newer salads on their menu and incorporates many healthy ingredients. The Freekeh salad is Aroma’s most colourful salad and consists of freekeh (a super grain), black quinoa, sprouted brown rice, organic baby kale, tomato, cucumber, carrot, pickle, red onion, parsely, za’atara seasoning and a scoop of labneh cheese (a thick, creamy Mediterranean yogurt based cheese). It is served with their lemon olive oil dressing. I loved the variety of ingredients, especially the labneh cheese and pickles that add a lot of flavour to the salad. Each of these salads contains 7.4 grams of fibre! 
   
5. Aroma Special Salad- I really enjoyed eating the Aroma Special Salad as a post workout meal. It’s a protein packed salad with mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, red onion, hardboiled egg, olives and your choice of flaked albacore tuna or feta cheese. Tastes best if you get half tuna and half feta! It’s also served with a low fat balsamic dressing. 

Customization! Added Smoked Salmon to the Aroma
Special Salad!

There are lots of excellent healthy food options at Aroma Espresso Bar and customization is also available. You can substitute or add items to your meal like chicken, steak, tuna, cheese, avocado, or smoked salmon. Although I focused mainly on their salads, they also have a nice selection of sandwiches and soups. Throughout the diet, I skipped all of their delicious baked pastries but those alfajore cookies were super tempting every time I stepped into an Aroma store. It was not easy for someone like me to get through these 21 days. I love food a lot and am fortunate enough to be able to attend many food events and tastings where I did cheat a few times. The first few days were especially difficult as I had to fight cravings for snacking, but it did get easier and results were very encouraging. The real challenge will be to continue this healthy eating and active lifestyle. I lost 13 lbs and overall I feel more energetic and stronger. Aside from losing weight, I hope that this can help me kick start a healthier lifestyle long term and inspire anyone else to do the same. Special thanks to Loren from Aroma who helped make this happen! I had lots of fun sharing this project on Instagram and Snapchat and thanks to everyone who followed and especially those who supported!

21 Day #HealthyAroma Challenge

Over the past few years as a food blogger, I have been very fortunate in having the opportunity to try restaurants around Toronto and attend media events on a weekly basis. I attend food events often, sometimes everyday of the week and it has led me to develop some unhealthy eating habits. On top of that, I recently came back from a trip to Asia, where I went a little crazy with all the delicious food and I gained 15 pounds. I run a Physiotherapy clinic (Good Physiotherapy) full time in addition to food blogging- a busy lifestyle that has taken a toll on my health. One of my goals this year is to improve my lifestyle through healthy eating and exercise.

I have enlisted some help from my friends at Aroma Espresso Bar to help me achieve this goal through the #healthyaroma Challenge. For the next 21 days, I will be eating 2 meals a day at Aroma Espresso Bar locations around Toronto. I will be exploring Aroma’s extensive salad menu and some of their healthy soup and sandwich items. My other meals and snacks will be left open for home cooking or watching what I eat at food events. As a Physiotherapist, I always preach active exercise, and I will be incorporating a progressive cardio and strength training program to my 21 day challenge. During this time, I will still be covering food in Toronto, but with a healthier focus. Follow me on Instagram (@goodfoodtoronto) and Snapchat (goodfoodtoronto) for daily updates! 


Check out Aroma’s full food menu and nutritional information here.

Cactus Club Cafe- First Toronto Location

Written by Rayanne Y. aka @goodfoodscarborough (Good Food Toronto guest writer)

I had the opportunity to get a sneak peak of the Cactus Club Cafe Toronto located at 777 Adelaide Street West during their media event this past October. Cactus Club Cafe is a well established restaurant in Western Canada so I was very excited to see what they had in store for Toronto. 

As I entered the restaurant, I was warmly welcomed by the hostesses. I was then ushered to the glass elevators that took me upstairs to the second floor. As the elevator doors opened, you can see that the area was tastefully decorated. The vibe is upscale, yet relaxed enough for a drink with friends or an after work visit with coworkers.

The friendly bartenders served the Cactus Club's signature cocktails which were thoroughly enjoyed by the guests. Their bellinis were delicious and on point. They served samples dishes from their menu that were created by Canadian Celebrity Chef Rob Feenie.

If you crave a lighter fare, the Tuna Tayaki is an excellent option. Seared Albacore Tuna, papaya slaw, pine nuts, yuzu vinaigrette and cilantro. The fresh ingredients really makes this dish very refreshing.

Rob's Crispy Chicken Sandwich was really tasty. Perfectly fried panko-crusted chicken with swiss cheese, sambal mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion. This was my favorite item I tasted that evening.

After sampling the food and drinks I went to check out the third floor of the restaurant. This floor had a rooftop restaurant feel and an amazing retractable roof which will be prefect for patio season. The lower floor had a classy sports bar feel and would be a great place to watch games with friends. I had a great evening at the Cactus Club Cafe.

My overall impression of this establishment was that it is conveniently located in the heart of the Toronto financial district and is a great place to relax, mingle and grab a few drinks and food after work or on the weekends. They offer exceptional customer service along with a great selection of food and drinks. Thanks for a great experience Cactus Club Cafe Toronto, I will be back for that chicken sandwich.

Bourbon Poached Persimon® with Finnish Pancakes Recipe

I recently had the opportunity to learn, taste and create a recipe using Persimon® brand Persimmons.  The Persimon® Rojo Brillante variety of persimmons are grown in Ribera del Xúquer Valley (Xúquer River Valley) near Valencia in Spain. They are available seasonly (October to January) in Metro and Sobey’s stores in Toronto.  I purchased a box of Persimon® Rojo Brillante Persimmons, which are different than other varieties because the fruit is firm, sweet, and immediately ready to eat.  This variety does not need ripening (ripe when firm), as opposed to other types of persimmons that need to become soft and ripe to be eaten.  I liked these persimmons because I could wash them, cut them up and eat them without any special prep.  They were mildly sweet with a little bit of crunch, kind of like a hybrid mix of a ripe mango and a crunchy apple.  Persimon®  persimmons are also rich in fiber, vitamins and only available seasonally in Toronto.

After snacking on some Persimon® persimmons, I got some help from dessert expert Jessica (@jellymean) to create a recipe for a beautiful Persimmon dessert.

RECIPE:  Bourbon Poached Persimon® Finnish Pancakes

This recipe is split into 3 parts.  Part 1 is for the bourbon poached persimmons, part 2 is for the finnish pancakes and part 3 is where the whole dessert is put together!

Part 1- Bourbon Poached Persimon® Persimmons

Ingredients (Bourbon Poached Persimon®):

2 tablespoons of Butter

¼ cup of Bourbon of your choice (we used Bulleit Bourbon)

½ tbsp of honey

2 Persimon® Persimmons Sliced (can save extras for snacking)        

Instructions:

1. Microwave 1 tablespoon of butter in a microwave safe bowl
2. Add ¼ cup of Bourbon
3. Add ½ tbsp of honey and mix
4. On medium heat, melt small amount of butter on pan
5. Fry sliced persimmons on pan and flip when one side starts to char
6. Spoon over butter/bourbon mixture on top of persimmons
7. Cook until sauce reduces and gets sticky. Remove persimmons from pan

 

Part 2- Finnish Pancakes

Ingredients (Finnish Pancakes)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 cups milk

1 cup flour

Instructions (Finnish Pancakes)

1. Combine and whisk all ingredients until smooth. Optional: Run the batter through a sieve to get out all the lumps
2.  Let the batter rest for 30 minutes (or overnight) in the fridge
3. Heat non-stick or lightly greased pan to medium
4. Pour in a thin layer of the batter just so it covers the bottom. Once it is golden brown on one side, flip and cook the other side to golden brown. These Finnish style pancakes are more similar to crepes than regular pancakes.
5. If you have a grill pan that would be a good nice grill marks on the persimmons. But if not a pan will do.  

Part 3- Plating the Bourbon Poached Persimon® Finnish Pancakes

Place the bourbon poached persimmons (Part 1) onto the completed Finnish Pancakes (Part 2).  You can have fun with this part and use more persimmons per pancake depending on your taste. Fold the pancakes however you would like and serve with vanilla ice cream for extra tastiness!

Read more about Persimon® Persimmons at persimonsays.com!

Taste of Peru: Celebrating the Pan Am Games Handover to Lima 2019

Written by Henry Truong aka @foodhubtoronto (Good Food Toronto guest writer)

The Taste of Peru Private reception hosted at the Stirling room was an amazing event of sorts. The event was held to celebrate the handover of the Pan Am Games from Toronto to Lima, Peru, where the next Pan Am Games will be held in 2019!

Chef Dennis Palma Cedeño and Chef Giancarlo Colombaro were on site to prepare delicious peruvian dishes/ Hord`oeurvres such as: Ceviche, Huacatay marinated lamb chops, Cocoa-macastriploin medallions, Peruvian quinoa prawns with ajipanca aioli, and Mango & Chia mousse.  The drinks were another wonderful addition - Pisco Punch and Pisco Sour were extremely popular amongst the crowd at the Stirling Room.

Approximiately 200 people were in attendance, including Pan-Am athletes and dignitaries from Peru it provided a very welcoming and fun experience. Thank you Mark S. for the invitation to this great event!  The Pan Am and Para Pan Am Games were a huge success in Toronto, so we're expecting great things in Peru in 2019!

New York Fries Golden Poutine Fork Giveaway

Do you like Bacon?  Do you like Poutine?  Do you like Gold? New York Fries is celebrating International Bacon Day this Saturday (Sept. 5, 2015) with the launch of the Bacon Double Cheese Poutine, their newest specialty poutine. Make sure you cover your poutine/fries with their Cajun seasoning for extra deliciousness.  In addition to adding this new poutine to the menu, New York Fries is also giving away 108, 24-carat gold plated poutine forks to the first person visiting locations across Canada this Saturday who can correctly say “Bacon Double Cheese Poutine” in Pig Latin.  Each gold poutine fork also comes with a free Bacon Double Cheese Poutine!  See below for more info.  If you didn’t know already, Bacon Double Cheese Poutine in Pig Latin is properly pronounced “aconbay oubleday eesechay outinepay.”

How to win a New York Fries 24-carat Golden Poutine Fork on International Bacon Day

To win you must be the first person to visit a participating New York Fries location on September 5, 2015 and correctly say “Bacon Double Cheese Poutine” in Pig Latin. Two chances to correctly say the phrase. If the Pig Latin fails to flow after two attempts the next participant will have the chance to win it. For more info, including participating New York Fries locations, please visit: newyorkfries.com.

Estrella Damm Tapas Journey Toronto

Between August 14-23, Estrella Damm beer is partnering with 20 awesome restaurants in downtown Toronto for the “Tapas Journey.” Each of these restaurants will be featuring a special Tapas Journey menu with 3 signature tapas dishes. For $20, you get three tapas dishes and a pint of Estrella Damm beer too! For a fun night, pick three of the restaurants that are close to each other and order the Tapas Journey deal at each restaurant.

I had the chance to check out the Tapas Journey menus at three restaurants: Los Colibris, Raca Cafe and Bar, Mata Petisco Bar. The food was creative, delicious and portions were quite generous for $20. I met up with a few of my Instagram friends (@bluntfoodreview, @doctornom, @hypebelly) at Los Colibris, an upscale Mexican restaurant at King West. We had a few extra Estrella beers there after the tapas meal and then headed over to parkdale to visit Raca Bar and Cafe for some of Chef Ivana Raca’s delicious creations. Raca had a beautiful outdoor patio in the back where we enjoyed more tapas and beer. Our final stop was the nearby Mata Petisco bar, a South American spot with the largest portions of the night! One of their tapas dishes was a plate of 4 cheese bread sliders! Check out everything we ate at these 3 spots. Beer is the perfect pairing with these small savoury dishes and a full pint of Estrella Damm Beer is included in the menu! Estrella Damm is also giving away 3 trips to Miami to attend the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress and meet Chef Ferran Adrià.  Contest details at end of article.

Los Colibris “Tapas Journey” Menu ($20 for all three dishes + a Estrella Damm Beer) 

Jalapeno Relleno- Picadillo-stuffed pickled jalapeno made with 32 different ingredients including pork, nuts, seeds, dry fruits, aromatic spices, herbs. A dish with a crazy amount of flavour!

Camarones A La Diabla- Corn puree, guajillo/arbol adobo, avocado, shrimp, grilled corn. 

Pipian Verde- Chicken meatballs with pumpkin in based pipian verde 

Raca Cafe and Bar “Tapas Journey” Menu ($20 for all three dishes + a Estrella Damm Beer) 

Bone Marrow Arancini- Veal bone marrow stuffed arancini garnished with fresh herbs and Parmigianno Reggiano served with house-made pear jam. WOW! Bone marrow inside crispy rice balls pairs nice with the pear jam. 

Bacon Wrapped Medjool Dates- Bacon-wrapped medjool dates stuffed with stilton and aged balsamic 

Spiced Peruvian Pork Meatballs- Spiced pork meatballs covered in a Peruvian tomato pepper sauce 

Mata Petisco Bar “Tapas Journey” Menu ($20 for all three dishes + a Estrella Damm Beer)  

Coxinha Chicken Balls- Shredded chicken filling covered in milk buttered dough served with a malagueta pepper aioli 

Cheese Bread Sliders- Brazilian cheese bread bun topped with catupiry-style cheese and smoked beef cheeks. Huge portions and a totally gluten free slider as the cheese bun is made with Cassava flour! 

Tapioca Dice- Tapioca crumbles with coalho cheese served with a cumari pepper aioli 

Participating Restaurants for the Tapas Journey from Aug 14-23: Barsa Taberna, Beast, Byblos, Carmen, Cava, East Thirty-Six, El Catrin, Kanpai Snack Bar, Los Colibrís, Mamakas Taverna, Marben, Mata Petisco Bar, Nota Bene, Patria, Raca Café & Bar, Salt Wine Bar, Taverna Mercatto, The Good Son, Valdez, Weslodge

Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress Contest
Estrella Damm beer is giving away 3 trips to Miami, where winners will attend the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress and see Chef Ferran Adrià.  For a chance to win, you need to visit any #TapasJourney restaurant between August 14th and 23rd and snap a photo of your passport stickers. You can ask your server for a Tapas Journey passport and they will give you a sticker when you order the #TapasJourney menu. Full contest details here.

Group of 7 Chefs X TABASCO Sauce

Last week, TABASCO Canada held a party featuring some of Toronto’s top chefs who served dishes inspired by TABASCO Sauce. When I arrived at Propeller Coffee, I was surprised to walk into a mini food festival! The “Group of 7 Chefs” who were featured included Scott Vivian (Beast), Nick Liu (Dai Lo), Chris Brown (Citizen Catering), Bertrand Alepee (The Tempered Room), Steve Gonzalez (Valdez), Dustin Gallagher (416 Snack Bar/ Peoples Eatery) and Anthony Walsh (Canoe). These guys recently took a trip to Avery Island, Louisiana, the birthplace and home of TABASCO sauce. Using this trip as inspiration, each of the chefs created a delicious dish with TABASCO as a feature ingredient. The food festival atmosphere was really cool as guests could speak with the chefs as we tried their tasty food.
The event was TABASCO everything! There were bottles of TABASCO everywhere I looked. There was also a huge barrel of super spicy pepper mash, which TABASCO is made from. Silver Spoon necklaces were awarded to those brave enough to sample a spoonful of this raw pepper mash! Throughout the night, guests sipped on crazy TABASCO inspired cocktails including a Jalapeno Mojito and a Smoked Caesar. There was also a endless supply of TABASCO infused rum shots to keep the party going all night.
My favourite dish of the night was the Crab and Duck Gumbo that Chef Anthony Walsh made. It was a ridiculously delicious gumbo with salted TABASCO Sauce cornbread, smoked duck and crab meat that he covered in butter and flame torched in front of us.
Here’s the full lineup of the Chefs and Dishes that were featured at the #FeedYourOriginal event:

Chef Bertrand Alepee (The Tempered Room)- Croissant Po’boy with TABASCO Chipotle Sauce, Pulled Chicken and Apple Remoulade

Chef Steve Gonzalez (Valdez)- Caesar Ceviche with Snow Crab, Tomato, TABASCO Sauce, Clam, Black Pepper, Horse Radish, Raw and Pickled Vegetables, Latino 5 Space, Corn Chip Cilantro Chef

Dustin Gallagher (416 Snack Bar/ Peoples Eatery)- Olive Oil Corn Cake with Corn Sorbet, Salted TABASCO Sauce and Caramel Corn

Chef Chris Brown (Citizen Catering)- Avery Island Salt Crusted Wild Boar with Biscuit, White Gravy and Slaw

Chef Nick Liu (DaiLo)- Avery Island Salt Cured Pickerel with Tomato and TABASCO Dashi, Pickled Honey Mushrooms and Wasabi Green Peas

Chef Scott Vivian (Beast)- Boudin Balls with TABASCO Sauce, Pickled Celery, Chilled Collared Greens, Potlicker Aioli Chef

Chef Anthony Walsh (Canoe)- Fogo Island Crab and Duck Gumbo with Salted TABASCO Sauce Corn Bits

Thanks to all the Chefs for the great food and also to TABASCO Canada and iYellow Wine Club for organizing a super fun party!

Group of 7 Chefs celebrating at the @tabascocanada #FeedYourOriginal event last night! Cheers! @chefanthonywalsh @latino5spice @ninjachef @scottvivian @thetemperedchef @dusty416 @chrisbrowntoronto @iyellowwineclub #goodfoodtoronto #toronto #tabasco #torontochefs #chefs #groupof7chefs #propellercoffee

A video posted by Hubert L (@goodfoodtoronto) on Jul 8, 2015 at 9:00pm PDT