By Samantha Taylor
The awesome weather we are having brought me to another restaurant outside that is right on a lake. The restaurant I visited is called The Green Iguana, next to the AMC Veterans 24 movie theater so you can have dinner, catch a movie and not be tempted to eat the popcorn.
At night, after 10 or 11, the restaurant can definitely be too much of a bar party atmosphere for me, but earlier in the evening it’s not like that, and during the day it’s great to see the lake. Another thing I really like about it is that it does have that tropical type feel, so you feel like you are on vacation when you go there —which I will take any day.
They have many healthy options on the menu if you search for them and lots of unhealthy ones, of course, including fried foods and high-calorie burgers with fries. They offer some delicious salads you can top off with Mahi, chicken, salmon or shrimp.
I eat salads a lot, but I didn’t want one this particular day, which led me to find a dish called, “Naked Tacos.” Huh? Not too sure about that title. Anyhow, I think it’s because it comes out plattered (separated) so you can build it yourself on flour tortillas.
Most large American corporate chains like this don’t offer whole wheat tortillas. Since I have learned to prefer whole wheat, I rarely ever eat anything made with white flour. However, I am not too legalistic to say you can’t ever eat it even though I don’t enjoy it as much as whole wheat.
I got my chicken blackened for some added “kick” of flavor and I ordered a side of sautéed green peppers, onions and mushrooms to get more veggies, which made my meal more like a fajita than a taco.
Even I struggle to get enough vegetables in my day, so I always try to add them wherever I can. But keep in mind, if you get them sautéed in a restaurant, make sure you instruct them to use a small amount of oil so a healthy additive doesn’t turn into too much fat.
It does come with something called “green rice,” which is white rice, and black beans. I did not eat the rice and the black beans; I saved those for another meal. As the breeze blew in from the lake, I enjoyed two small “fajitas/tacos” and took the rest home for two more meals. I love using portion control.
The other thing I like about this restaurant is that it’s right next to one of my favorite movie theaters, the Veteran’s AMC. I like it because they have some of the best projectors for animated and high graphic movies. If you like seeing movies as much as I do, that theater is the place to go, to enjoy a good quality animated film.
