As noted in my last post, I recently had an uptick in unhealthy lunches due to being on the road so much. As a result, lately I’ve been seeking out healthier lunch options within walking distance of my downtown office. As incongruous as it might sound, my new favorite healthy lunch spot is Ellen’s Homemade Ice Cream. No, I haven’t been indulging in raspberry chocolate chip ice cream cones for lunch. Ellen’s features a different salad every day and they are really quite tasty. Most of them are vegetarian and they’re all healthy. I get a pint-sized container to go for $4.50.

I have tried the curry chicken salad, tabbouleh, Indian curry chickpeas & rice, and couscous with black beans & peas. They are all delicious, but the curry chicken salad is by far my favorite. Apparently it’s everyone else’s favorite too, because they’ve been sold out two different times when I’ve stopped by to get some. Come to think of it, I’m not sure why I’m now telling the world about it. Okay, whatever you do, don’t get the curry chicken salad — it’s just awful. It’s shredded chicken, diced celery & green apple, and raisins, all coated in a sweet curry dressing. The dressing is either mayo or yogurt with curry and honey, and it’s so yummy that I think I’d eat my shoe if it were covered in it. No, wait! It tastes terrible! (Okay, note to Ellen: Please make more curry chicken salad so you don’t sell out.)

For anyone not familiar with tabbouleh (or is it tabouleh, or maybe tabouli?), it’s a bulgur salad with parsley, mint, tomatoes, cucumbers and green onions. It’s dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Ellen’s version is very flavorful. Both the couscous with black beans & peas and the Indian curry chickpeas & rice (pictured above) are also good, though I ate the latter today and some of the chickpeas were a little too crunchy (i.e. undercooked).

In addition to all of these salads, Ellen’s has mixed greens salads and a different soup every day. Also, you can get a big hunk of homemade bread for 35 cents, which I tried for the first time today. So, if you’re looking for a quick, cheap, healthy lunch downtown, you’ll find it in an unlikely place — the ice cream shop. Of course, feel free to order a banana split or a hot fudge sundae for lunch if you want. I won’t tell anyone.

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