Healthy Bowl: Chipotle Crazy

Hello Blog followers!

As many of you do not know, I am quite possibly one of the biggest chipotle fanatics in the world. My obsession with chipotle dates back to my childhood. As a young elementary student, my small private school was located just around the corner from the first (and at the time, only) Chipotle in the United States. Lucky for my young taste buds, my school actually signed with Chipotle to cater lunch to its students every Tuesday and Thursday. Little did I know that this contract would spring my addiction to Chipotle later in life.

The majority of my friends find my obsession comical. They are constantly giving me a hard time about my eagerness to eat chipotle for every meal, no matter the time of day. Without failure, I manage to tell every single one of my friends that ever accompanies me to Chipotle that the first Chipotle every is located 5 minutes from my house in Denver, Colorado.

(Above is the original Chipotle on Evans Street in Denver)

In light of negative connotations that Chipotle is not healthy, I would like to explain why exactly Chipotle is actually one of the healthy options when dining out of the house.

As many of you may not know, Chipotle is committed to only serving “Food with Integrity.” Might you ask, What is “Food with Integrity”? Well basically, Chipotle only serves food made with the very best ingredients. For instance, all meat used at Chipotle comes from animals who are raised without the use of antibiotics or added hormones and whenever possible, chipotle sources organic and local produce.
In fact, through “Food with Integrity”, Chipotle hopes to change traditional American fast food culture to one which only serves customers with the best and most natural ingredients available.
Many people commonly think that Chipotle is actually owned by Chipotle. Thus, leading to the false assumption that the nutritional content of Chipotle is equivalent to that of McDonald's. This connection is completely false. Although McDonalds was once heavily invested in Chipotle, this ended in 2006 when Chipotle went public.
According to current statistics, Chipotle actually serves more naturally raised meat and local produce that any other restaurant company in the US.

Need some advice on some of the healthier menu items at chipotle? Here are three of my personal favorites:

Taco Salad:

For those of you who are truly dedicated to eating 100% healthy all the time, the taco salad is the way to go. With just around 450 calories, the taco salad is a nutritiously balanced meal. Including black beans, chicken, fajita veggies, pico de gallo, and corn, there is nothing unhealthy about it. Make sure you do NOT use the salad dressing, which is packed with empty calories.

Soft Shell Tacos

As one of the menu items that is on the lighter calorie side, the tacos will never disappoint. However, just as every other menu item, the tacos are only as healthy as the ingredients you put in them.

Burrito bowl:

My all time favorite. Currently in all Colorado store, Chipotle is test marketing brown rice (don't worry, seasoned with cilantro, just like the white!)

In honor of this blog, I decide to Tweet at chipotle last night...