29 June 2011
Comparing Potbelly Salads
Contributor Post
Today, you get to meet another Nutritionista contributor! Please welcome Earl L. Earl is a health-conscious cook who loves running, good food, and exploring the world of molecular gastronomy. He post restaurant reviews, healthy recipes, molecular gastronomy experiments, and anything else related to food on his website, Toastable (check it out, he knows his stuff). In today’s post for YN, Earl’s talking salads from a “fast casual” place I actually have quite the soft spot for — Potbelly. I’m kind of in love with Potbelly’s chicken salad, and in general I think their food is above average for a sandwich shop.
Earl is analyzing Potbelly salads in this post, and he really gets down to the nitty-gritty in terms of the macronutrient breakdown in two of his favorites — the Uptown and Farmhouse salads. I love Earl’s scientific lens on food, and I think you will, too. Read on!
YNC Contributor
Earl L.
There are very few chain restaurants that I frequent, but Potbelly Sandwich Shop remains near and dear to my heart. The curiously named submarine shop procures excellent sandwiches at an extremely reasonable price all while fostering a friendly, light-hearted atmosphere. Potbelly offers everything from a simply turkey sandwich to the signature ‘Wreck’ sandwich which sports roast beef, turkey, ham, and salami. However, sandwiches are not the only items Potbelly offers. Potbelly features a host of milkshakes—which I have unfortunately never indulged in—soups, and salads.
Of the three types of non-sandwich offerings, the salads are outstanding options for health-conscious eaters, and while I would consider all of the salads to be healthy, Potbelly’s two signature salads—the Uptown and Farmhouse salads—vary greatly in nutritional make-up and taste. Both excel in the flavor department, but one packs a whollop of carbohydrates to keep you running while the other packs a ton of protein to rebuild muscles after working out.
The Uptown salad appeals more to the sweet-tooth type of person. Grapes, apples, dried cranberries, and candied walnuts establish a primarily sweet complexion while savory grilled chicken, blue cheese, and poignant red onions offer a supporting contrast to amplify the sweetness of the other ingredients. Thanks to the juicy grapes and watery apples, the Uptown salad feels refreshing and light, and Potbelly’s sweet yet zesty non-fat vinaigrette only furthers such refreshing taste.
Unlike the Uptown salad, the Farmhouse salad sports a robust, salty taste from the grilled chicken, hard-boiled egg, bacon, blue cheese, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion. The hard-boiled egg, which comes broken into fine pieces, works harmoniously with the crumbled bacon to sparsely coat the entire salad with fatty yet lip-smacking saltiness. Even so, the grape tomatoes burst with liquid and the cucumbers release a trickle of clear liquid to balance the fatty feel of bacon and yolk.
Already, the two salads feature a contrast in terms of taste, but looking further, the nutritional makeup of the two salads vary in that the Uptown salad has almost a 2:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio and the Farmhouse salad has a 1:4 ratio. As a result of sugar from various fruits, the Uptown salad offers much more carbohydrates than the Farmhouse salad. On the other hand, egg and bacon boost the amount of protein in the Farmhouse salad, leaving the Farmhouse salad with ⅓ or 10g more protein than the Uptown salad.
Choosing between the Uptown and Farmhouse salad really is more a matter of preference than of deciding which one is healthier—both are healthy! For lunch, I would likely choose the Uptown salad to gain the energy needed for an afternoon workout, but for dinner, I would choose the Farmhouse salad because its large amount of protein will help my body recover from muscle wear and tear.
Of course, Potbelly offers more than just the two aforementioned salads. Potbelly’s ‘Wreck’ salad shares a nutritional makeup similar to that of the Farmhouse salad—high protein, low carbohydrates. Potbelly’s chickpea salad has a pretty even carbohydrate to protein ratio and is incredibly light, and Potbelly’s chicken salad salad features a nutritional makeup similar to that of the Uptown salad. Regardless, definitely give Potbelly’s signature salads a try. They are both worth it.
