Feeling Hungry and Healthy? Purée Café Is Your Place.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been head over heels in love. But no, not for a boy. For a restaurant! Purée Café in Mt. Pleasant is a new gem that you must check out. Purée caters to those health-conscious individuals like myself, but will surely please the appetites of anyone smart enough to eat there. The menu is vegetarian, with many vegan and gluten-free options. Fillers, preservatives, artificial colors, and GMOs are no no’s at this joint. Go in hungry and leave feeling happy and healthy!

My first visit to Puree was with my friend Eric, a meat-loving man, who worried the vegetarian menu wouldn’t satisfy him. While we glanced over the menu, we ordered two juices: the Green Clean (spinach, kale, cucumber, celery, parsley, apple, and lemon)  and The Vitality (kale, beet, carrot, and peach).

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We also couldn’t pass up the White Bean Dip with pita chips as an appetizer. I could not stop eating the dip!

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We shared a salad too. Hey, we saw a lot of things we liked…The arugula, goat cheese, & roasted beet salad with toasted nuts & berries was another great starter -- sweet, savory, and summery. Pretty, isn’t it?

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The meat-eater immediately spotted two items that intrigued him:  the Blackened Jalapeno Cheddar Burger and the BBQ Tempeh Sausage Burger. Jenan, the owner, stopped at our table and convinced him to go with the latter. Wise choice – the burger was huge and topped with sautéed onions, avocado, and melted cashew cheese

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I chose the Mediterranean platter:  falafel  & hummus, served with mixed green tahini salad & toasted pita. I loved this dish because I got to try a little bit of everything. The falafel is a family recipe and the roasted red pepper hummus is better than anything you could buy in a store.

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After my visit with Eric, I was hooked. Thankfully, so is my good friend Danielle, and we’ve been going pretty often. One day we didn’t tell each other we were going for lunch and happened to go at the exact same time. I’m not sure if we were more embarrassed or amused that we caught each other. :)

On more than one occasion (like four, sue me), I’ve had the Black Bean Burrito. I can’t stop! Jenan urges me to try new things, but I keep going back to it. The whole wheat wrap is filled with black beans, greens, pico de gallo, and avocado.

One afternoon, Danielle and I decided a cocktail with lunch was necessary. She got a margarita with organic tequila and I got a mixed drink with organic vodka, beet juice, strawberries, and lime. These were probably the healthiest cocktails we’ve ever encountered, ha!

My most recent visit (when I spilled the beet juice everywhere) was for brunch. I had the The scrambler: tofu with cheese, tomatoes, kale, sweet & Yukon gold potatoes wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla and a side of pesto. The tofu tasted pretty darn similar to eggs and I loved that there were two kinds of potato.

Locals, please check out this adorable café! Vegetarian or not, I know you’ll find something delicious. Stop in for a juice, eat one of the awesome entrees, chat w/ the sweet owner, and leave with a freshly-baked dessert. The vegan chocolate chip cookies are ridiculously good. Trust me, I’ve had a couple. ;)

Check out Purée on their website, facebook, or twitter. Tell Jenan I sent you!!

Do you often find yourself ordering the same thing over and over because it’s so good or do you like to always try new things?

What’s your favorite vegetarian dish?

What I’m Loving Wednesday 9/5/12

1. I often forget about Old Navy, but occasionally I’ll see something really cute on someone and it ends up being from there. Amanda bought a bunch of this beautiful colored top, and thankfully she doesn’t mind me being a copycat. After wearing it once…

I fell in love and bought three more. They’re classic, can be worn many different ways, and were cheap. After an extra 30% off the sale price, I ended up paying around $8 a pop.

2. Another store I often forget about is Versona, a jewelry store in Town Centre. It’s huge and overwhelming; think Forever 21 but with mostly accessories. While most of it is junky, you can find some gems in the rough. I picked up 3 necklaces on Saturday:

3. Oh, you want to see some food? Okay. I’ve got that covered too. On Monday, Boding and I went to our favorite restaurant on Daniel Island, Ali Baba Deli. As always, I stuck to items from the deli case. I got my usual favorites: hearts of palm salad, fattoush salad, foul madamas, and grilled chicken. Four items from the deli case cost $9.95 and it always lasts me two meals.

4. As I was placing my leftovers in the fridge, I laughed when I looked in the bottom drawer. I’m now convinced that I was Greek in a past life.

5. One of my favorite parts about being single is that I spend my free time doing whatever I want. So what if one of my favorite hobbies is reading anything I get my hands on? And no one gets to make fun of me nerding out with my glasses on. It’s not surprising that I’m the foursquare mayor of my library.

The best part is foursquare asking me if I have a crush on the librarian. No.

6. Speaking of books, I just added a bunch of books to my “to-read” list on Goodreads. Are you on Goodreads? Add me! I’m always up for book recommendations.

7. This sums up my Labor Day Weekend:

WHEN SOMEONE SAYS I’M A LITTLE SUNBURNED

When you really like something, do you buy it in multiple colors? I have multiple Longchamp totes, Camelbak water bottles, necklaces, shirts, and shoes in different colors. When I like something, I really like it.

What’s the nerdiest thing you like? I’m a proud fan of the library, crossword puzzles, online grammar quizzes, and the Twilight series.

My Favorite Healthy Snacks

I’ve mentioned it before – I really love snacks. Lots of little meals > 3 big meals. Here are the snacks I most often eat.

1. Greek yogurt. It’s packed with protein, is rich and creamy, and full of flavor. My favorite brands, by far, are Fage and Chobani.. My absolute favorite is Fage’s Cherry 0%. I don’t typically like cherry-flavored foods, but this is the jam.

I also really like their Blueberry 0%.

Of all of the Chobani flavors, Pineapple 2% is the one I buy the most. Just like their Passion fruit flavor, it’s very tropical.

Surprisingly, I love their Lemon 0%. It’s really refreshing!

2. Luna bars. Let’s be honest, these things are “healthier” candy bars. They’re made with 70% organic ingredients and contain many essential vitamins and nutrients. Iced Oatmeal Raisin is ridiculously good.

I’ve noticed that people either love the Iced Oatmeal Raisin or the S’mores flavor, but not both. Weird, right? My other top flavors are Peanut Honey Pretzel, Chocolate Dipped Coconut, and Blueberry Bliss.

3. Nuts! I prefer almonds and walnuts, but put me in front of a can of cashews or peanuts and I won’t deny them. First and foremost, I like plain ol’ nuts in their natural state. I buy them in bulk from either Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.

4. Fruit. I love almost all fruit in its natural state. Bananas, blueberries, and strawberries are my favorite. I’ll also never say no to pineapple. Have I ever told you I briefly lived in Hawaii with my mom when I was 3? Yep. Check this out. Someone was eating a lot of pineapple in 1987.

5. Back to the food. In high school, chips were my weakness. Nowadays, I reach for popchips. They’re not baked or fried, but instead air-popped. They have the best flavors and are so crunchy. I have little to no self control around a bag of Barbecue or Salt & Pepper popchips.

Their newest flavor, Sweet Potato, is quite different because it’s sweet, but is absolutely delicious.

Have you guys seen the new tortilla popchips? I’m dying to try them!

6. String cheese. I hadn’t had string cheese in years until very recently when I visited my grandparents. I forgot how convenient of a snack this is. And it’s cheese. Come on. We all love it. These bad boys are only 50 calories a pop (stick?) and, well, they’re fun to play with.

Embrace your inner 10-year-old and buy a bag of these.

7. Cottage cheese + jam. Sorry if you just threw up after reading that. It’s a great combo, I swear! Cottage cheese packs a punch of protein, and if you buy a lower sodium or low-fat kind, is a great post-workout snack. Top it with some jam for extra flavor. Just try it! +

8. Carrots + hummus. Sabra’s Roasted Garlic hummus is the best! +

9. Avocado + toast. It’s one of the most simple, yet delicious, snacks I eat. Just top a piece of toast with a couple avocado slices, drizzle with honey, top with salt & pepper, eat munch away.

10. COOKIES! Of course! Can’t stop, won’t stop. These aren’t healthy, but I could never leave them off my list of favorite snacks. ;)

What’s your favorite snack?

Are you team Fage or Chobani?

Favorite Luna bar flavor?

Black Bean Company–Mt. Pleasant location

Late July, Black Bean Company opened a third location in Mt. Pleasant. Though the restaurant is right up my alley, I’d only been to the James Island location once because it’s a bit far. When I heard the news about their location in the new MUSC East Cooper building, I was excited to give it a second try. Black Bean specializes in fresh wraps and salads and has many vegetarian and vegan options.

Last Friday, Amanda texted me saying she had just picked up a wrap. I knew there was no way I couldn’t go after hearing her tell me how great her Black & Blue wrap was. So an hour later, there I was inside MUSC, thankfully only for a wrap and not hospitalization.

I debated between several options, but ultimately chose the Southwest Chicken wrap – Roasted chicken, black beans and Jasmine rice, fresh local sweet corn, roasted tomatoes, southwest chipotle sauce, shredded carrots, parmesan cheese, mixed greens.

This was one of their pricier wraps, at $9.95; that’s a bit steep for my taste. The wrap itself was fresh and flavorful. The Greek yogurt and granola that I chose as a side (other options include potato or macaroni salad) was incredibly thick and creamy. Addictive. My only qualm was that they skimped on the corn and tomatoes. There were only a few kernels of corn and TWO tomato chunks. Odd. The spicy dressing had a nice kick to it.

Over the weekend, I was wishing Black Bean was open, but this particular location is only open Monday-Friday, 8 to 5 pm. Luckily I work from home on Mondays, so, you guessed it…I went back on Monday.

This time around I ordered The International – turkey, hummus, guacamole, artichoke hearts, pico de gallo, goat cheese, Spicy Goddess sauce, mixed greens.

I really liked this wrap as well, but it had the same issue with lack of ingredients. There was ONE artichoke and ONE chunk of guac in the entire wrap. Sad! They were pretty liberal with the cheese though, and I didn’t mind that.

Last year when I attended the Best of Charleston party, I was given a coupon for a free order of Vegan spring rolls, so I redeemed that.

The spring rolls are simply purple cabbage, carrots, and greens in a soy wrap served with a spicy sauce. They’re good, but kind of boring. Had it not been for the sauce, I wouldn’t have really cared for them.

Overall, I’m happy with Black Bean and will continue to try new wraps. I just wish they wouldn’t be so conservative with the fillings! If a menu says something is in a wrap, it should be in there, and not just a small amount. I read reviews on Urbanspoon, and a lot of people commented saying they had issues with missing ingredients too. Hopefully they’ll work on that!

Have you ever been to any of the Black Bean locations? Which is your favorite wrap or salad?

Do you typically choose wraps or salads when dining out1?

The Friday Five 7.27.12

1. What I’m Reading: Ever wonder which spices and herbs go with your favorite foods? What about which cheese pairs best with your favorite fruit? The Flavor Bible tells all. This book lists thousands of ingredients and is an excellent resource for anyone interested in cooking.

2. What I’m Eating: New favorite hummus! If you like olives, you’ll love this.

3. What I’m Listening to:  Remember when everyone was obsessed with Santigold’s song “L.E.S. Artistes”? Her newest album, Master of My Make-Believe, features this awesome song:

She’s as wacky as Nicki Minaj but can sing really well!

4. Recipes I’m Bookmarking: Cape Cod Muffins. (Blueberry Cranberry Muffins)Danielle, we need these!

5. GIFs I’m Loving:

EVERY TIME I COOK

WHEN SOMEONE HAS COOKIES

I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend!