Foodview: Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap

This past week, after the flurry of blues and ribs fanatics subsided, the Harvest Moon kitchen staff busied themselves with lunch specials truly elating in their uniqueness. They've put aside their BBQ stained garments from last week (there were a few BBQ entrees in honor of the event) and rolled up creative sleeves to make some new inventions of esculent proportion. Feeling a little hungry and having a desire to write, I took a look around to see what could be blogged about. Moments before, I heard some elderly ladies raving about a lunch special: The Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. They got it in a wrap, so I decided to follow suit and get mine in a wrap too, because remember... I hate salads.

There are four ways you feel after you eat a meal, in my opinion. Either you're wanting, you're satisfied, you're full, or you're stuffed. I would put this meal somewhere between me being satisfied and me being full. It'll be enough for some and more than enough for others. It seemed that so many ingredients were stuffed in and pouring out of the herb & veggie tortilla. In regards to flavor, aside from the warm white chicken breast and a kind of spring mix wrapped about the tender meat, the unique taste came from the house made Caesar dressing which had no small hint of garlic in it. While other seasonings were in the dressing which smothered the soft meat and lettuce, garlic was the main taste entering my mouth. A kind of cheese I couldn't identify was sprinkled throughout the wrap too, and it was impossible to not notice the green olive halves in the wrap as well. While my taste buds don't appreciate green olives, my personality does (if that makes any sense! I hear they're good for you). The wrap had these delicious house-made croutons in it, which gave the meal its satisfying crunch. Highly recommended.

With the Caesar dressing, a little bit went a long way flavor-wise, so be careful if you ask the chef for an extra helping of dressing. You don't want the guy clear on the other side of the cafe to know what you ate for lunch!

Adjectives for this special include but are not limited to: varied, green, seasoned, garlicky, tasteful, and healthy. It was like a hand salad, you know, a salad you can pick up and eat with your hands. :)

Well that's a wrap on this post (ba dum tss)! See you next time.

~The Harvest Crier~

Foodview: Cafe Salad

Okay, okay, okay. I finally consented, dear readers, to breaking my anti-salad pledge. I'm not saying that I'm going to start eating salads every second of the day or anything; I'm just opening my mind to giving salad a chance to redeem itself.

If you're vegetarian or vegan, the salad you'll want to choose is the Autumn Harvest Salad, which I can  confidently say looks good (I haven't tried it yet). For those of you who like meat with your veggies, pick the Cafe Salad, which is what I went for.

Coming with sides of ranch and guacamole and laden with strips of juicy chicken breast, this salad brings a flavor-combination unique. I've never thought of using guacamole as a dressing before, but it turns out that it go excellent with the ranch and poultry. I feel that these two were a killer idea for sure.

Also on the plate were lush and earthy lettuce leaves (it wouldn't be a salad without lettuce!) as well as a sensational smattering of feta cheese and tomato. For you vegetarians out there, this is an idea you should try on your own: Feta cheese and sliced tomatoes with ranch and guacamole.

While the chicken, egg, bacon, and feta cheese give it a fullness, and the leaves of lettuce add a good earthy taste to the mix, it was the guac and ranch dressing combination that brought the two worlds of meatiness and leafy-ness harmoniously together, leaving me scraping nothing off of my plate and into the trash can! Well done, Harvest Moon!

But I'm still not a salad kind of guy.

~The Harvest Crier~ 

Foodview: Chicken Salad Sandwich

At the end of a rather quiet shift at HM, I asked one of the employees if they could make me something to eat. Though I've never been too fond of chicken salad, the tasty track record of Harvest Moon convinced me to give it an optimistic go. Perhaps I simply have optimistic taste buds, but it was the best chicken salad sandwich I've ever tasted! Sorry, Mother. :(

A buttery and flaky croissant was sliced open and toasted. A layer of green lettuce is placed on the bottom, followed by generously large slices of cucumbers and tomatoes seemingly just picked from the good earth.

On top of that is the homemade chicken salad, which is rather sweet tasting. The sweetness can be attributed to the hint of fruit the recipe calls for, also contributing to the crunch you'll feel as you bite into the sandwich. All of this, as well as the blend of seasonings, is mixed into the boiled chicken breast which is pulled apart into shreds of protein packed deliciousness.

Topping it off is semi-melted provolone above the cool chicken salad and tucked underneath the flaky croissant's top bun. Biting into it was a cooling experience, a meal recommended for those of us who sweat at the very sight of bottled BBQ sauce. Timid in the taste bud region? Take a bite of the Chicken Salad Sandwich with a side of potato salad and you'll be as cool as a cucumber!

~The Harvest Crier~ 

Foodview: BBQ Chicken Flat-Bread Pizza

On the newly created evening menu, on the bottom left corner, you'll find a list of our signature flat-bread pizzas. I recently had the opportunity to try the BBQ Chicken Flat Bread Pizza, which was served on a warm chopping board as opposed to on the usual plate. If it's the evening time when flat breads are available, and you don't feel like ordering the usual, go for this very abnormal and sensational meal, if you're brave enough that is!

Thick grilled chicken strips full of flavor and crisp turkey-bacon went well with the cooked apple slices which left a complementing tartness to the toppings. On top of that was the crunch of red onion, the sweetness of oven roasted tomato, and the elating sensation of smoked Gouda cheese. The oven crisped the flat-bread perfectly, so you're in for a treat if you like eating the crust of your pizza, especially as you wipe up the remainder of the pizza's sweet and spicy BBQ sauce. The serving was contently filling and diverse in its toppings. I mean, apples? Really? I didn't know that apples could go on pizza. But if someone were to ask me if I would order it again, "heck yes" would be an understatement. It was pleasingly diverse in its flavors and textures. Its like the UN of food. Mmmm, delicious, delicious UN. :-)

Words to describe this meal are: odd (in a good way), diverse, sweet (apple and BBQ), and satisfying (the density of the chicken and bread were perfectly filling). The highlight of the evening menu may be the cocktails for some, but its the flat-bread pizza for me! Recommended.

~The Harvest Crier~

See also: Health and Creativity