Happy To Eat My Greens

I tend to avoid restaurants that focus on salad as the main course. They conjure up images of either wilted greens in a buffet-style restaurant complete with early 90s decor or the type of place only girls who don't like food would frequent. Those who see food as an enemy rather than a friend, i.e., not me.

My opinion of this was altered when I saw a new restaurant open up here in Albuquerque. And after checking out their website and reading reviews, I knew I had to give it a try. Vinaigrette is a salad bistro that started in Santa Fe and recently opened up a second location here in the Duke City. My parents and sister were in town last weekend, so I suggested we give it a try for lunch.

The atmosphere is bright, colorful, modern, and fresh. Just like the incredible food. I ordered the I Yam What I Yam Salad which is baby greens with pancetta, pomegranate seeds and a haystack of maple-glazed yam shoestrings with maple mustard vinaigrette. Amazing. This was the best salad I have ever eaten. It was fresh and flavorful and I did not leave any of it on my plate! I'm not generally a huge fan of salad, but I could eat this one everyday. It was perfection. Vinaigrette has the salad down to an art. Each is perfectly dressed, not drowning in dressing, a little in every bite, just enough to add a hint of flavor. I also appreciate that each ingredient in their salads are proportionate to one another. Some restaurants try to make their salads look like works of art by slapping huge ingredients on top of a bed of greens. But the problem with that is it becomes very awkward to eat as everything is a different size and you wonder if you should be using a knife.

The menu is primarily salads, but there are a few sandwiches, soups, and other items. My sister ordered the Cuban Torta, which is mustard-roasted pork shoulder and green chile ham, griddled with red onions and Swiss cheese on a split roll with avocado and mayonnaise, chipotle and sweet relish. She had a side Greek Salad with it as well. It is chopped cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, red onion and crumbled feta cheese, with a classic vinaigrette. She loved hers as well. My parents loved their meals too.

After  a wonderful first visit, I had to go back. My mother-in-law is in town for the weekend, and I thought she might enjoy it as well. So she, Jack and I decided to head there for lunch today. In the photo above you can get a better idea of the interior and notice Jack eating his goldfish with a spoon as we waited for our meal. The mind of a toddler is fascinating.

We ordered Erin's Mac and Cheese for him and he absolutely loved it. Much better than the goldfish. We liked it too (we each tried a bite). It was served with fruit and veggies on the side. 

I ordered the sandwich and salad duo with the Morty and Cheese which is Mortadella and tangy melted robbiola with scallion yogurt sauce, on griddled and pressed ciabatta and a side Cobb Salad. I asked for baby greens because I'm weird and don't like romaine. They kindly obliged. The sandwich was delicious and the salad was too!

My mother-in-law ordered the soup and salad combo. She chose the soup of the day which was a green chile corn chowder and the Omega salad which is leafy greens chopped and tossed with sweet corn, diced bell pepper, tomato, avocado, red onion, cilantro and toasted pine nuts with blue cheese vinaigrette. She raved about hers as well.

I love that Vinaigrette serves fresh, flavorful food that is perfectly portioned. You leave feeling satisfied, not stuffed. If you find yourself in Albuquerque (or Santa Fe), give it a try. You will not regret it!

Healthy Dinner

Okay, so I know it's been forever. Pregnancy and busyness have caused me to not cook as often, and when I do it is usually something really simple and boring. But I have had a few good meals here and there, so I thought I would catch up and share some of them.

I probably cooked this a month or two ago, but it was good, so I figured I would share. I baked salmon fillets in a lemon and garlic butter sauce, but they didn't taste that great. Although, I am going to blame that on the fish, not my cooking. They didn't have any wild salmon at the store when I bought it, so I had to go with farm raised and it just did not taste as good. Even though the salmon was not a huge hit, I did make one of my favorite salads. Just top spinach leaves with some chopped hard boiled eggs and crumbled bacon. It is so easy, and really delicious. I used Annie's Naturals Lite Honey Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing with it, which was really tasty as well.

Breakfast Time!

This morning for breakfast, I was going to make an egg sandwich on a bagel, but soon realized my eggs had expired (I feel like this is becoming a theme). So, I decided to do a peanut butter and banana bagel sandwich instead. Just toast a whole wheat bagel, spread a little peanut butter on each slice, and place sliced bananas in between. This is a tasty, filling, and healthy breakfast! And it brings you back to your childhood a bit!


This Silk French Vanilla Creamer is a favorite of mine. I tried it one time because I knew it would be much healthier than other creamers that are full of sugar, fat, and chemicals. It became a fast favorite, and a regular staple in my fridge. Well, Wednesday morning I was out of this wonderful creamer, and tried to substitute with regular soy milk-no bueno. I couldn't finish my coffee. It was pretty sad (it is also sad that the perfect coffee is so essential for my day). Needless to say, I was very happy to have some this morning.


Today I came home for lunch and made this salad. I topped organic baby spinach leaves with sliced strawberries, walnuts, cotija cheese (feta would be better, but I didn't have any), balsamic vinaigrette, and salt and pepper. It was pretty good. Josh really liked it. I think I will make a few changes next time. The strawberries were a little tart, so it might be good to toss them with a little sugar ahead of time. I also might try a home made dressing that would mix with these flavors better.