Get your appetites ready, fellow healthy eaters. Freshii, a Chicago-based chain of healthy fast food joints, opens at the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton today and we can’t wait to try it! The menu is loaded with a variety of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. First, you pick your “style,â€� choosing from salads, wraps, brown rice bowls or soups. The rest of what goes into your meal is up to you. Pick from a healthy selection of ingredients including edamame, grilled tofu, avocado, mango, spicy peanut sauce, even organic grilled steak. You can check out their website here to see all the options. And while you’re at it, glance over at the nutrition stats conveniently planted on the right side of the page. You can find out how many calories, grams of fat, protein, and/or fiber each ingredient adds as you custom-build your meal from the bottom of the plate up. READ MORE

Mark Bittman

I was incredibly excited to hear New York Times columnist Mark Bittman speak at the Free Library a few Mondays ago, on tour for his latest book, The Food Matters Cookbook.  And to all you fellow “Minimalist” readers, I’m happy to report that he didn’t disappoint.  Complete with his trademark witty banter, he discussed food trends and the negative impact they’ve had on both our diets and to the planet to a crowd of more than 350.  I learned everything from the actual cost of a 99-cent hamburger ($200, after adding up production costs, ensuing environmental damage, and future healthcare expenses for the person who ate it) to how ridiculous our screwed up diet of processed foods really is:“No one is born craving Skittles, or doughnuts, or Whoppers,â€� he said, playfully reminding the audience that there was a time when Americans used to “eat real food, and Goldfish still swam.” READ MORE