“Clean Food” is one of those buzz words I keep hearing when the topic turns to healthy eating.
To get a better understanding about what this new trend really is, I turned to the folks at City Silo Table & Pantry. This brand-new spot (which is located in the former Cosmic Coconut space in Sanderlin Center) offers re-imagined comfort food and drinks made with wholesome, clean ingredients.
“Eating clean is eating wholesome, healthy ingredients. It’s like using premium gasoline in your car as opposed to the cheap gasoline,” explained Scott Tashie, owner of City Silo Table & Pantry.
Executive chef Will Byrd chimed in with some shopping advice. “So if you are going to the store picking up a box of cereal and you want look at the back of the box, you just want to make sure that you know all the words on the back of the box for one thing. You don’t want something with sorbital, you don’t want words that you don’t understand.” Instead you want natural ingredients you know … like oats and maple syrup for the sweetener.
In summary, clean eating is about eating whole foods, or "real" foods — foods that are minimally processed, making them as close to their natural form as possible.
Scott says that using high quality ingredients is also key to clean eating. If using high quality foods, you can prepare it simply and let the flavors shine through.
Will further explained that whereas his menu is fairly plant-based, you can enjoy animal proteins such as chicken (which City Silo serves) as part of a “clean” diet. He recommends using all-natural and locally-grown and raised ingredients whenever possible.
This is Jennifer Chandler with The Weekly Dish. Eat Well!
City Silo Table & Pantry opened January 14 in Sanderlin Center. For more information, visit www.thecitysilo.com.
