Operators are jumping on the Whole30 bandwagon, developing and highlighting dishes that meet the diet’s guidelines. The move makes sense—Technomic’s Healthy Eating Consumer Trend Report reveals that 46% of consumers say that they have tried or would consider trying the eating plan. Here’s a roundup of items customized specifically for Whole30 followers.
In partnership with Grubhub, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE), the Chicago-based multiconcept operator, launched a delivery-only virtual restaurant focused on Whole30-approved lunches and dinners. The LEYE culinary team worked directly with Whole30 to develop the menu for Whole30 Delivered, which includes items such as spaghetti squash and chicken meatballs, herb-crusted salmon with cauliflower rice and chimichurri beef skewers with roasted vegetables.
Photograph courtesy of Zoes Kitchen
Zoes Kitchen offers a Whole30-approved menu, which covers a number of its Mediterranean-style entrees, sides and sauces. These include chicken, shrimp and salmon kebabs, a cauliflower rice bowl (sans feta and tzatziki) and Mediterranean chicken. Roasted vegetables and potato salad are compliant sides, and customers can flavor their dishes with Moroccan harissa, Israeli skhug or Italian salsa verde.
The Whole30-approved salad at B.Good is composed of a bed of lettuce topped with avocado, a sunny side-up egg, kale, Brussels sprouts, apples, roasted butternut squash, roasted beets and pumpkin seeds, dressed with a red wine vinaigrette.
Photograph courtesy of Chipotle Mexican Grill
And Chipotle debuted three Whole30 salads for its line of Lifestyle Bowls. The salads feature a base of supergreens topped with fajita veggies, tomato salsa and guacamole and three protein options: carne asada, carnitas and adobo chicken. Chipotle’s kitchen recently revamped the marinade on the chicken to make it compliant with the diet.
Last year, Chipotle Mexican Grill launched a line of Lifestyle Bowls in sync with current diet trends. This month, the chain is swapping in two new ingredients to ramp up the healthfulness of the bowls. A supergreens salad mix, composed of antioxidant-rich baby kale and spinach, replaces the romaine-only salad base, and a Whole30-compliant adobo chicken is now available to give followers that protein choice along with carne asada and carnitas. The lifestyle line now includes six diet-friendly options, including keto, paleo and Whole30, as well as high-protein, vegan and vegetarian. To kick off the new additions, Chipotle is offering free delivery on lifestyle bowls through Jan. 31 .
New menu launches from El Pollo Loco are also designed to meet keto and/or paleo diet guidelines. Three Pollo Fit Bowls are on offer: Double Chicken & Avocado, Double Chicken & Queso Fresco and Double Chicken & Mango. All feature fresh organic spinach, a red cabbage-lettuce blend and chopped fire-grilled chicken breast. The keto-certified bowls also include avocado, pico de gallo and queso fresco, while the Paleo bowl contains avocado and fresh mango salsa. In a statement, El Pollo Loco says it will be debuting additional menu items customized to diet lifestyles in 2020.
More than 20% of consumers now choose warm bowls, according to Chopt Creative Salad Co. To meet their demands, Chopt debuted warm cauliflower rice as a base for its warm bowls, alongside brown rice, beluga lentils and tricolor quinoa. On Jan. 6, the salad chain launched a selection of health-inspired bowls that conform with keto, paleo and Whole30 diets. On the roster are two warm bowls: Spicy Bowl30 (cauliflower rice topped with warm roasted chicken, rainbow carrots, crispy shallots, jalapenos, cabbage-cilantro blend and spicy sunflower dressing) and the MexiKeto Carnitas Bowl (cauliflower rice topped with spicy braised pork, cotija cheese, pickled red onions, jalapenos, cabbage-cilantro blend, toasted pumpkin seeds and Mexican goddess dressing). Also new to the menu are two cold salads with keto- and paleo-friendly ingredients.
Cousins Subs added the Sub in a Bowl to its menu, giving customers the chance to order any cold or grilled sub over a bed of fresh mixed greens. Justin McCoy, VP of marketing for the chain, said in a statement that requests for bread-free options were on the rise. Turning the usual sandwich ingredients into a bowl is an operationally easy way to meet this demand. Each Sub in a Bowl features the same portions of proteins, toppings and choice of dressings as its sandwich counterpart—minus the bread.
Following on the introduction of its flexitarian burger line in 2019, B.Good welcomed the new year with a Lifestyle Menu featuring three new bowls. Each of the items fits the guidelines of the big three diets popular now. The Keto Salad features grilled chicken, slab bacon, Parmesan cheese, romaine and a lemon Caesar vinaigrette, while the Paleo Salad has a Mediterranean accent with its mix of grilled chicken, romaine, cucumber, tomato, radishes, zucchini noodles and za’atar with a red wine vinaigrette. Completing the lineup is a Whole30 Approved Salad with avocado, egg, kale, Brussels sprouts, apples, butternut squash, beets, pepitas and a red wine vinaigrette.
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