By Bennett Fuson and Lexi Muir
<bfuson@hilite.org>, <lmuir@hilite.org>
Eat This: Naked Vegetarian Taco Salad
When most people think Qdoba, they think about the burritos, quesadillas and/or nachos. Yet Qdoba also offers a rather extensive menu for those hoping to eat a bit healthier, including “naked” (no tortilla) versions of all burritos and taco salads. The healthiest option is the Naked Vegetarian Taco Salad. With black bean and corn salsa, tomatoes and fat-free picante ranch dressing, the salad tastes… healthy. There were very few (read: none) vegetables besides the lettuce, making the salad rather sparce. (A peculiar thing, given that it is a vegetarian taco salad.) It’s obviously designed to be a calorie-conscious meal, clocking in at around 200 calories, but the need for health outweighs the need for taste. If you’re looking for a a healthy, tasty meal, it would probably be best to try elsewhere.
Not This: Steak Queso Burrito with Pinto Beans
This dish is literally death-by-Mexican-food. Not surprisingly, the steak queso burrito is one of the most popular menu items. And why wouldn’t it be? Smothered in queso and loaded with steak and pinto beans, the burrito oozes with cheesy goodness. Yet all that oozy, cheesy goodness comes fully loaded with 910 calories. (Take a minute and recover from that statement.) Not to be outdone by calories, the steak queso burrito also packs 20 grams of saturated fat and 2010 milligrams of sodium. It might be a fiesta in the stomach, but it’s a killer to the heart.