Soup or Salad Blue Jay Lunch Thread

Why: Lettuce is bland
Favorite soup: Gumbo
Where: Louisiana

 - Romaine lettuce with some red cabbage, spinach, and cilantro mixed in for flavor.
 - Sun dried tomatoes
 - Fresh tomatoes
 - Green, red, and yellow peppers
 - Musrooms (fresh, not canned)
 - Cucumbers
 - Peas
 - Chicken or salmon (if fresh). Those chicken “cubes” are too damn chewy.
 - Almonds (if no chicken or salmon)
 - Sunflower seeds
 - Pepperocini’s
 - Bernstein’s or Newman’s Own Italian dressing

Don’t like onions, bacon bits, beets (yuck), eggplant (the most gaggable “food” on the planet), hard boiled eggs, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, iceberg lettuce, or creamy dressings.
A good Chardonnay would help wash it down, but not on workdays. On weekdays, it’s plain old everyday water.

The only time I like soup is when freezing my buns on cold winter days…I run too hot otherwise.

Followed by squid ravioli in a lemon grass broth with goat cheese profiteroles

from North Woods Inn

It can end up costing you about ten bucks, but I love making my own salads at whole foods…the secret to making it weigh less is to put the dressing in a side container.
Pulled chicken, spinach, red leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, a lil’ feta cheese, cucumber slices, mini corn, and whatever else my heart desires at the salad bar at the time.

Soup: creamy tomato basil from Fresh & Easy.
Salad: caesar w/ caesar dressing from Paul’s.

In colder weather, soup is satisfying. Pho Tai at Golden Deli; ramen at Daikokuya or Orochon; General’s noodle soup at Sanamluang; matzoh ball soup at Langer’s or Junior’s; my grandmother’s (RIP) cabbage soup, which I’ve perfected; French Onion soup (try Church & State downtown). I make a darned good French vegetable soup (potage aux legumes), too. Oh, and my mom’s split pea soup (made with the leftover ham bone from Honeybaked).

Salad – I rarely have a salad as a main course, but I like a good Nicoise salad: the one served at the Disney Hall cafe (Patina Group) with seared ahi is nice. I liked the one at the Cafe Select (Paris).

There’s a salad place in California Plaza called Salads 2000 that does a good Chinese chicken salad. I also like the salad at Porta Via Italian deli in Pasadena. You select a variety of greens, veggies, etc., and they put it together. I like getting it with Italian meats & cheese (a hodgepodge of diced salamis and provolone), mixed greens, marinated peppers and whatever else looks good, with just a slight drizzle of their balsamic reduction and a splash of olive oil.

and they’re even better with chicken. doesn’t really matter from where…. actually, the Caesar at the ESPN Zone in Anaheim is really freaking good.

i really love clam chowder too. (the only good thing to come from the east coast.) The Crab Cooker in Newport makes a good clam chowder

soup and salad (and breadsticks) at Olive Garden! YES!

It has pineapple, cranberry and raisins in it. Soup would be Andersen’s split pea.

Romaine lettuce
cheddar cheese
black olives
croutons
bacon bits
green bell peppers
shredded carrots
blue cheese dressing…..

FTW

all for 85 cents…….yum.

Arugula lettuce
carmelized walnuts
dates
Manchega cheese
shredded green apple
tossed in a pomegranate vinaigrette and served compressed on the plate.

Brilliant. Frickin’ brilliant. And I eat at least one salad as a meal every damned day, so I know my salads.

(When in need of soup, I seek out the tortilla soup at Coco’s, or any corn chowder.)

Here’s the best of the best (and BTW, none of them are in Boston)…

Duke’s Chowder House (Seattle)
Pike Place Chowder (Seattle)
Fisherman’s Grotto (Monterey)
Opah (Irvine)

Honorable Mention
Chef Bill’s Chicken Corn Chowder (Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, Anaheim)

the Clam Chowder in a bread bowl from Disneyland is actually really good, too

at Angel Stadium … any reviews?