Healthy and Sane: A Guest Post

I would love to be able to write about restaurants in every region of the US, but unfortunately I am a resident of the West Coast and therefore my writings naturally cover restaurants available in the area.  Luckily I have foodie friends all around the country, and today, friend and fellow healthy food lover Elina is sharing her explorations at a popular Massachusetts eatery: B. Good.

“Being Good” in Boston

Hi guys! My name is Elina. I write a healthy living blog, Healthy and Sane, and as the name suggests, I try to balance the two on a daily basis. To me, this means including lots of exercise during the week, sometimes staying in and cooking a healthy meal for myself and my husband, and on occasion (because it’s one of the greatest pleasures in life, at least in my opinion) truly enjoying an indulgent meal out.

Cooking has become such a passion of mine that I rarely eat anything between the two extremes – it’s either a super healthy (yet delicious!!) home-cooked meal or a super indulgent one out (like when I’m on a date with my husband). Sometimes, however, life gets so busy that my fridge is devoid of fresh produce and I can’t spare the time to start defrosting things and getting creative with pantry staples. This is the perfect scenario for grabbing something quick out, and with a little “detective work” I can still enjoy my meal without breaking the nutritional bank.

The Cuisine

Detective work is really essential if you want to ensure that your meal in fact is healthy. As Detective Lara talks about here often, so many healthy sounding entrees are fat and calorie laden. Luckily, one of the local chains in Boston, b.good, has taken a lot of guess work out of ordering.

The owners believe in serving fast but “real food,” with handmade burgers (out of meat sourced from local farms), baked fries, creative salads and milkshakes making up the menu.

The food is fresh and generally healthy (although not everything is low calorie, like select burgers and milkshakes). Nutritional information is easily available (online and on little cards right in front of the cash register) so you can order based on your taste and nutritional needs. I used to be a die-hard calorie counter so this really came in handy. The few restaurants that offered nutritional information were “safe” and I appreciated that I could order almost anything I wanted at b.good (as opposed to say, The Cheesecake Factory, where I stick to their “weight management salads” only for the fear of the other meals clocking in at over 2,000 calories). So here are my favorites. I’ve tried nearly every item on the menu over the past 3 years (since I moved to Boston).

My Favorites

You can choose between (from heavier to lighter option) beef, “fried” chicken, turkey and veggie patties, for each of the burger combos. All the burger combos, except for Adopted Luke, are in the mid-300 to mid-400 calorie range. Adopted Luke is the only combo that includes cheese, and with that breaks the 600 calorie mark (the Adopted Luke veggie burger is 580). That is too many calories for me to consume in one meal, especially if I complement it with some veggies or steal one too many “fries” from the husband. If you’re in my boat and are dying to try the Adopted Luke, you could of course ask to omit the cheese (I may just do that next time I’m there). Alternatively you could ask to add cheese to the other combos. Everything is customizable.

From many trips to b.good I determined that I prefer their beef burgers. The turkey ones are, unfortunately, dry on occasion and the “fried’” chicken includes a spice I’m not a fan of. Lastly the veggie burger has onions in it, which I have a high aversion to. So at least I know which patty I’m choosing when I’m there. The choice of which combo to go with is still not easy. I haven’t found one I’m not in love with, but here is one I happened to have pictures of on my computer.

COUSIN OLIVER — lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and special sauce (the sauce is KEY, I always ask to omit the onions)

The EL GUAPO – bacon, jalapeno ranch dressing, lettuce and tomato is awesome as well!

Baked fries or sweet potato fries go great with the burgers and are truly delicious. However they add another 300 or so calories to the meal, and as mentioned above that is a bit too rich for me. My husband always gets them so I’m lucky that I usually can just steal one or two fries from him When I’m feeling like I need more than just a burger, the crisp veggies are a great side. They are slightly steamed and drizzled with a flavorful soy based sauce. Delicious!

The burgers and sides are great, but my absolute favorites are actually the salads. The SOUTHWESTERN CHICKEN SALAD – mesclun, avocado, corn, tomatoes, black beans, toasted corn, chipotle balsamic dressing blew my mind the first time I tried it.

The toasted corn is definitely their secret ingredient and my mouth starts watering just thinking about it. So crunchy and delicious. Salads definitely do not need to be boring!

B.good recently started changing their menu based on seasonal ingredients that can be locally sourced. A few of them, like the goat cheese portobello salad sound pretty incredible. I think I may just have to take a night off cooking some day and treat myself to a healthy and delicious meal out.

Thank you, Elina! If I ever make it out to Boston for a visit, I know the first place I’m hitting up for lunch!

Question of the Day

Is there a local chain where you live that offers healthy meals you can feel good about eating? If you live in the Boston area, have you ever tried b.good?