Healthy Living: Healthy Eating - OK You Guys, I'll Take The First Watch

What better thing to do on a lazy Sunday morning than head for your favorite breakfast/brunch place for some great mid-day food to round out the weekend.  That's what I was up to yesterday on my way from here to there just looking for a place to cool my heels, read a paper, and plan for the upcoming week's schedule.

So there I am, cruising down the road looking for a place to stop when I see a familiar sign for a chain of restaurants I like a lot.  It's a safe haven for good, honest comfort food for breakfast and lunch (they don't do dinner) and I'm thinking breakfast.  Only problem is; it's really too late for breakfast and I want to see what they offer for brunch.

The place is First Watch (www.firstwatch.com) and they only do breakfast and lunch- and they do it really well.  The menu is extensive and the prices are very reasonable.  To date they only have around 100 restaurants in about 13 states with most, I'm told. in Ohio and Florida.  You may not have heard of them, but my guess is you will before too long.

I'm scanning the menu and I'm seeing some entrees that are twanging my health strings.  Here's the one I decided to have- The Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl.  Wow, mounds of quinoa mixed in with large pieces of kale, shredded carrots, and house-roasted tomatoes.  All of this goodness is topped off with slices of all-natural lemon chicken breast and finished with a basil pesto sauce along with feta crumbles and fresh herbs.  A great, healthy eating bonanza.  I left feeling satisfied, healthy, and energized; and ready to come back to try more healthy entrees.  I will soon.

Having just completed a long road trip (1,000 miles) last week.  I can attest to the fact that there are not a lot of healthy eating choices along our interstate highways.  There are more than there were 10 years ago, but still not enough for consistent healthy eating.  So finding a family of restaurants that is trying hard to develop and expand a whole section of their menu dedicated to healthy eating and healthy choices should be applauded.  We need more of them.

I will go back soon to try other of their healthy entrees, and it's nice to know that they are right around the corner.  If you have tried other restaurants or restaurant chains that offer healthy eating options, let me know.  It would be nice to pass that info along to others that are cruising the highways and byways of this great nation.  Stay hungry my friends.