Dining
Local & Healthy
W
Julia Myers
ITH the recent nationwide craze in health
sive menu, vegetarians and meat-eaters alike are sure to
food, restaurants in all areas of the country
find healthy options.
have introduced healthy meal options on
"Alfalfa Restaurant takes pride in serving healthy and
their menus. Restaurants are certainly not hard to come
delicious food,” manager Rachel Sanders says. “Alfalfa
by in this city, and health-conscious eaters have several
supports the community by buying many of its ingredi-
options when it comes to Lexington dining.
ents from local farms and only serves locally grown, free-
Just a short walk from campus, students can enjoy freshto-order tacos at Lexington's newest restaurant, The
range eggs." For brunch, enjoy a bowl of homemade granola with
Local Taco. Located on Limestone between Two Keys and
low-fat yogurt, or dig into a Popeye omelet, which fea-
Tin Roof, The Local Taco offers a variety of tacos, all made
tures spinach, mushrooms and feta cheese. For lunch,
with fresh, local ingredients on handmade tortillas.
order an Alfalfa favorite: the smoked turkey with cranber-
Bailey Greene, a server at the restaurant, says it offers
ry-herb pesto sandwich. Some healthy dinner options
“several healthy menu items and many vegetarian options.
include red beans and rice, a hearty Greek salad and a
All of the items on the menu can be ordered gluten-free." A
variety of seasonal
few menu items to consider might be the vegetarian taco,
soups, made from
made with marinated portabella mushrooms, or the
scratch daily.
cocinero salad, which features mixed greens, black beans and rice, and grilled tequila lime chicken.
Looking for something healthy
Just a few blocks from the Local Taco, on East Main
to grab on the way
Street, you'll find Alfalfa Restaurant. Alfalfa serves brunch
to class? Try a
and lunch daily, and is open for dinner Wednesday through
made-to-order fruit
Saturday. Alfalfa has been serving eclectic homemade
smoothie from
meals to Lexington for more than 35 years. With an exten-
Jamba Juice, which
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Kernel Entertainment Guide
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Health & Fitness 2012
Courtesy of The Local Taco is set to open on South Upper Street at the end of the month. Jamba Juice offers an almost endless combination of fresh fruit and vegetable smoothies. You can try adding a boost of soy protein or flax and fiber to really get the most out of your frozen treat. The menu also features steal-cut oatmeal, fresh salads and wraps, and flatbread pizzas.
At Home Kate Carpenter
T
HE gyms are packed and Whole
3.
Foods has noticed a pickup in sales.
microwave and is a breakfast guaranteed to
What could it be? The new year, of
keep your stomach full throughout the
course.
Plain oatmeal. It takes a minute in the
morning. Kroger’s whole grain oats only
But now that we are nearing the end of
have two and a half grams of fat per serving.
January, the new year is full of shattered res-
The oats have no sodium, six grams of pro-
olutions to eat healthier, quit drinking, go to
tein and 150 calories.
all your classes and do all of your homework. Let’s not get crazy. We aren’t miracle work-
4.
Pretzels. As an alternate to potato chips,
ers here. Let’s take it one step at a time,
pretzels are a good choice. A serving has half
starting with a list of seven foods you must
a gram of fat, no cholesterol and three
have in your pantry to stay on track with
grams of protein. A serving of potato chips,
eating healthier. Because of the proximity of
on the other hand, can have 10 grams of fat.
Kroger to campus, the list is based off of foods found there.
5.
Raisins. Good for snacking on the go,
raisins have potassium, protein, fiber and no 1. A variety of fruits and vegetables. Ac-
fat.
cording to the Food Guide Pyramid, people should eat two to four servings of fruit a day
6.
Potatoes. Not only are they cheap, they
and three to five servings of vegetables a
are easily prepared in the oven. Potatoes
day.
pack no fat, no cholesterol and seven grams of protein. In addition to that, one potato
2. Canned beans. Black beans, pinto
carries about 50 percent of your daily vita-
beans and kidney beans all benefit your
min C needs, and about 20 percent of your
health and can cost less than $1 a can. A can
daily iron.
of black beans from Kroger has one gram of fat, seven grams of fiber and seven grams of
7. Yogurt. Usually less than $1 at Kroger,
protein per serving. It has no cholesterol or
yogurt is packed full of protein, in addition
sugar and will keep you feeling full for
to almost half of your daily intake of cal-
hours.
cium. It can be bought fat free too.
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