Meatless Monday: Fast Food

So, as I may have mentioned, I'm in the process of moving. The prospect of doing such a thing always sounds so easy, but of course it's not. The movers come tomorrow, so I've been frantically trying to get every little trapping of my material life stuffed into boxes over the past couple of days.

Last night, I packed up the last of the kitchen items. As you might imagine, it's a little difficult to cook without pots, pans, spices, utensils, and whatnot. Couple that with the dilemma of not having very much time to eat and an inevitable evil looms in the near future . . . FAST FOOD! How's a girl to eat healthy and, today, meatless with the kind of options available at your average fast food restaurant, where sometimes the "healthy" items rack up just as much fat and and as many calories as a burger-and-fries combo meal?!

I'm not going to eat at your average fast food restaurant, that's how! In California, I've got some great options . . .

California Crisp
This small chain only has 7 locations, but they're worth seeking out. A lot of items on their menu come with chicken, but you can always ask them to hold it. Try their BBQ Chicken Wrap sans chicken. The sauce is yummy and the jicama adds a great juicy crunch. LOVE jicama.

Natural Cafe
This restaurant only has 10 locations, but, as with California Crisp, they're worth seeking out. Their menu offers a HUGE list of vegetarian options. I'm a big fan of the "Mr. Natural" - fresh, seasonal vegetables steamed and served over short-grain brown rice. I get it with sauteed tofu. I don't know what they cook the tofu in, but it is DELICIOUS!

Orean's Health Express, Inc.
Where I'm moving is relatively close to Pasadena, which means I'll finally get a chance to check out Orean's, which touts itself as "the first vegetarian fast-food take-out." Their menu is definitely more fast-food-y than the first two places I've mentioned here, offering items like burgers, dogs, burritos, and fries. Their website says they're open from 9:30a - 9:00p, but I remember trying to go at least twice when I lived in Pasadena and it being closed. If memory serves, I think both times might have been a Sunday, so maybe they're closed on Sundays. I drove by a couple of Saturdays ago when we were still house hunting, though, and saw that they were open. So, fair warning, African Burrito - You Will Be Mine!

Hopefully someday on-the-go vegetarian places will be as ubiquitous as McDonald's. Until then, . . .

If you know any good fast-food vegetarian places (or fast-food places with good veggie options), please share!

Other Meatless Monday posts