Rutabegorz - Tustin, CA : Soup and Salad

Did some Yelp research for veggie food and found that this place received four stars after 200+ reviews. So I wanted to try it out. This place offers all kinds of foods and is vegetarian friendly. The decor is very homey and cozy. We sat in a booth, but let me tell you...it's not very comfortable because it's hard, straight, and small. Felt like the bench was pointed downward and gravity kept pulling me. (At least gravity works.)

Soup and Salad

After perusing the menu of many veggie items, I decided to just go with the soup and salad. I know, you can eat this anywhere...but it's just what I felt like that day. They have a veggie soup of the day...which I already forgot what it was...some type of minestrone. The salad is lettuce, cucumber, tomato, carrots, celery, and sunflower seeds. It was all very light and healthy. Not overly salty or oily. Plain and simple...and I like plain and simple.

This place, however, is self seating. Which meant that the waitress didn't get to us right away, while they got to others who sat after us first. So if you're unlucky, like we were, you will get skipped over. Not liking that system so much. I guess if you want good service, you should go when it's not busy. But that's kind of a pain, isn't it? So just because of the uncertain service, I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon again. (And I normally don't mention service...but when it's not so good...I do.)

Rutabegorz
http://www.rutabegorz.com/site/index.php
158 West Main St.
Tustin, CA 92780

Panera Bread

For a quick, easy, and pretty healthy lunch, I like to have a soup and salad sometimes. Panera, similar to Corner Bakery and Boudin type places, offers such combos.

Vegetarian CreamyTomato Soup and Classic Salad

I love a tomato soup, so ordered their Vegetarian Creamy Tomato soup. They also have a couple of other vegetarian friendly soups...the Garden Vegetable Soup with Pesto and Low-Fat Vegetarian Black Bean soup. I like that this tomato soup is creamier tasting rather than sour tasting as with many tomato soups. I like both types...so both are tasty to me. The Classic Salad has mixed greens, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions tosseded with their reduced fat balsamic vinaigrette. I like that this is simple, not overly processed, and therefore pretty good for you. It comes with white bread...which is the not so healthy part...but I give that to someone else to eat and now I've got a pretty healthy meal. =)

Panera Bread

http://www.panerabread.com

Boudin SF - Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

Usually I eat at Boudin once a month because you get a free 1lb loaf of sourdough bread if you have a frequent buyer card (it's free) and register it online. With the card you get free bread once a month for a year and $5 towards your next purchase after accruing 50 points. One dollar equals one point. So that's like 10% off your meals. That's pretty darn good! For some other frequent buyer cards you have to wait until 200 points to get $10...so that's only 5%.

Soup and Salad Combo:

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Rustic Tomato Soup

Beets and goat cheese are both good for you and I don't usually get to eat it unless it's homemade. So I really wanted to try this salad out.

 This salad normally comes with spiced nuts but I asked for no nuts due to the spiciness. Not a fan of spicy things in any way. So the salad looks a bit plain because of that.

Goat cheese is an acquired taste. I don't like the big big chunks...but after splitting it into smaller pieces it was perfect. Goat cheese is supposed to be easier to digest than cheese from cow's milk because goat's milk is closest to human milk. Our bodies have a hard time with cow's milk...especially after pasteurization the enzymes that may help with digestion are all destroyed. So give goat's cheese a try...just break it into small pieces and pair it with balsamic vinegar....it seems to take away the strong goat cheese scent. FYI...I will be getting this salad from now on.

I consider this meal semi-healthy because the salad is healthy, but the white bread is not so healthy. The soup itself is semi-healthy to me.

Boudin

http://www.boudinbakery.com/index.cfm

Boudin SF - Irvine, CA : Tomato Soup and Spring Salad

Highly recommended.

Known for their sourdough bread, Boudin originated in San Francisco. Sourdough is my favorite bread and is pretty much the only "white" bread I will eat. I've heard from people that have eaten at a Boudin in San Fran that the bread there had a more sour flavor than the ones eaten in Orange County. So in case you wanted a really sour bread...this is not it. But I do believe it is more sour than...say a year ago...or my taste buds are changing. Either way I come here for my favorite soup and salad combo.

Tomato Soup and Spring Salad

You can get the soup in a sourdough bread bowl instead of what is pictured above. I believe without the bread bowl you get more soup and you still get a bread roll. Simple meal with good flavors...and it's not too bad health wise either.

There is the Boudin Bakery & Cafe and Boudin SF in Orange County. The Boudin SF has a larger menu with options for all three meals of the day. (I will share breakfast from here with you in another post.)

Boudin Bakery

http://www.boudinbakery.com/

The location this meal was eaten at:

Main and Jamboree

Boudin SF

2803 Main Street, Space A

Irvine, CA 92614

949-222-9111

Mon-Thur: 7am - 8:30pm

Fri: 7am - 9pm

Sat: 8am - 9pm

Sun: 8am - 8pm