Turning salads into complete meals is mission for owner of restaurant
Natalie Appelbaum never wavers from her core belief: Salads are a meal.
The owner of Pocket Produce, which opened 18 months ago in the Clintonville neighborhood, continues to chop her way into people’s diets with mostly organic and local ingredients.
“I want it to be a whole, satisfying, delicious, convenient meal,” she said of her salad creations. “Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so.”
The Killer Cobb salad ($9.50) has layers of flavor and textures — bacon, grilled chicken, greens, raw cheddar cheese, corn tossed with smoky paprika and other ingredients — carefully placed in a plastic to-go container, with a tart red-wine Dijon vinaigrette served in its own ramekin.
“It’s perfectly layered,” Appelbaum said.
Customers also can eat inside the brightly colored dining room. Salads can be made to order for those who prefer something to be added — or left off — a particular salad.
The harvest salad ($7.95) has some hearty components, such as house-smoked white beans and roasted rosemary sweet potatoes, along with kale and crunchy pickled red onion, served with an apple-cider vinaigrette.
The colorful Livin’ La Vida Opa ($8.50) uses Bulgarian feta (considered by some to be the best in the feta-cheese world), along with chickpeas, quinoa, greens, tomatoes, red onions, fresh mint and Kalamata olives, with a Greek-style dressing.
Diners can add heft to a salad by purchasing salmon ($7) dusted with gremolata, house-brined-andgrilled chicken ($3.75) seasoned with paprika and Asian chicken ($3.75) finished with an orange-ginger-sesame glaze.
Salads are only part of the story at Pocket Produce. Appelbaum also makes a number of sides, including black-bean hummus ($4.50), tabbouleh made with cauliflower and quinoa ($3.95) and fresh-dill potato salad ($3.95).
Of the two seasonal soups, the Thai butternut squash ($3.95 for 8 ounces, $5.95 for 12 ounces) is complex with coconut milk, cilantro, garlic, ginger, lime and mild red-chili flake.
The potato-leek ($3.95, $5.95) “warms you like a mother’s hug,” Appelbaum said.
“It doesn’t try to be anything it’s not,” she said. “It’s just delicious, warm and nice.”