By Wynter Holden
Could there have been a better weekend to have lunch outdoors in the beautiful, serene park-like oasis that is The Farm at South Mountain? I think not. The temperature was perfect, the setting lovely and the food amazingly fresh and tasty, as always.
If you're on a low-carb diet, or are a self-proclaimed "locavore" (foodie who prefers locally grown ingredients), The Farm Kitchen is great choice for you. Not only does The Farm grow some of their own produce on-site -- just walk around and you'll see folks tending the small crops -- but they also harvest incredibly delicious pecans from the rows of sheltering trees.
Salad with pecans, or Snickers bars? Hard choice...
The bad news? Pecans aren't exactly the best diet food. According to the USDA, they're about 753 calories per cup, with a whopping 78 grams of fat. I'd have to eat about five and a half Snickers bars to equal the amount of fat in a cup of pecans. Yeah, that's bad. But it gets better, I swear...
First, you don't have to go for a salad with pecans. The Farm Kitchen offers a cold case filled with salads from tuna to spinach to Caesar, and healthy sandwich options. Our party of 4, all of whom are fairly diet-conscious, opted for a tuna salad, an egg salad sandwich, turkey on French bread and yes, that killer chicken-pecan salad.
Tuna salad with lots of juicy tomatoes...just the way CK likes it!
Second, the folks at The Farm are so fabulous; they'll tweak something if you need it served differently. Love tomatoes but hate cucumbers? They'll dice up a few red beauties and hold the cukes. Allergic to nuts? Order your salad without. The choices here are endless, and they're all good.
Now that The Farm Kitchen has reopened for fall, I have another safe dieting spot that's healthy for your body -- and a welcome escape from the franticness of city life. All I have to do is ignore the temptation of their homemade pecan pie and I'll leave light and refreshed every time.
I will not eat the pie, I will not eat the pie, I will not...Aw, damn. Maybe next time I'll be good.
