Ropa Vieja (row-puh-vee-ay-haa) is a Cuban shredded beef that has been slow-cooked in a medley of sofrito (onion, celery and sweet pepper) and tomato sauce. I will use it in a black bean Cuban-style chili that we will serve with brown rice, corn and corn chips. The chips are Tostitos baked “scoops” with 110 calories, 3 grams of fat (0 saturated), 95 mg sodium, 19 carbohydrates and 2 grams of fiber. I use Better Than Bouillon ham base in the soup to replace the bacon I used to start with. That Better Than Bouillon ham base is available right down at Gene’s grocery store. Look for the “Chef Steve’s Grab Good” label in the aisle! The soup will be a lighter one thickened with cornstarch rather than an oil-flour roux. It will feature the soft diced chicken breast I use in soups now. Everything is gluten-free today.

This sandwich is a favorite of the Sunday Staff here at lunch! This is the third time we have served this chicken patty sandwich during the week. I’m thinking about making it a regular item through the summer. The chicken patty has 210 calories with 2.5 grams of fat (0 saturated), 50 mg of cholesterol and 840 mg of sodium. Everything looks good, but the sodium is a bit high. It is difficult to find a chicken patty with less than 1000 mg of sodium, so 840 mg is comparatively low. The DASH Diet daily parameter for sodium is 2000 mg, so it will fit into a day if you are careful with the meal before and the meal afterwards. We are converting 1/2 of the salad bar to a toppings bar like we do for taco salad and baked potatoes. It will include lettuce leaves, sliced tomato, sliced onion, a variety of sliced cheese, pickle chips, sliced olives, as well as a large variety of dressings, including some Arby’s sauces, sweet onion teriyaki from Subway, and more! On average, the baked chips we offer contain 50% less fat than regular chips. Some of them are also very low in sodium. Check the nutrition facts label on the bags. All Lays products and Doritos are under 200 mg of sodium per bag. In the soup, I will use what Jalapeño Poppers are known for, Jalapeños and cream cheese. I will blanch the Jalapeños and toss the water to reduce the spiciness in the peppers. The soup will definitely feature the flavor of Jalapeño, but not the full extent of their fire! It’s a cream-based soup and I will use 2% milk instead of cream and Better Than Bouillon ham base instead of bacon. There’s no way to avoid using an oil-based roux to thicken the soup, so it will contain a small amount of oil, resulting in an associated increase in calories. You can buy the Better Than Bouillon Soup Ham base I use right down at Gene’s grocery store! Look for the “Chef Steve’s Grab Good” label in the aisle! Nothing is gluten-free today. I will refer you to the chip bags to see how gluten-free they are.