Sweet Pork Salad
Café Mexicali, 2850 Baseline Road, Boulder, www.cafemexicali.com
You can’t leave Café Mexicali without being full. This fast casual “fresh as it gets” Mexican restaurant began in a college town (Fort Collins) and therefore knows how to give you the most bang for your buck, with dynamite, large and affordable meals. The sweet pork salad was hard to stop eating. Tomatillo rice, black beans and juicy sweet pork lay atop a hand-made tortilla smothered in melted cheese then garnished with ample salad greens, pico de gallo, guacamole, cotija cheese and crunchy tortilla strips. We chose the cilantro-lime dressing, which gave the entire dish a bright coat of citrus. We can’t wait to go back again soon. $8.99.
Aspen Moon Farm Carrot and Apple Salad
Potager Restaurant and Wine Bar, 1109 Ogden St., Denver, www.potagerrestaurant.com
Aspen Moon Farm has helped put Boulder’s biodynamic and organic agricultural scene on the map. And while we love going to their farm stand, it’s also delightful to see its products on farm-to-table establishments all along the Front Range. In this seasonal dish at Potager, carrots and apples are shredded, along with winter radishes that give each forkful a naturally spicy bite. Mixed with healthy chunks of shaved gouda cheese, plump currents and almond slivers, and tossed with an apple cider dressing, this crunchy fall salad makes a good meal or appetizer to share. Ask about wine pairing as well; Potager’s list is long and varied. $15.
Supreme Supreme
Basic Kneads food truck, Mobile, Boulder County, basickneadspizza.com
If a gourmet pizza oven on wheels doesn’t surprise you, the Supreme Supreme pizza that comes out piping hot and sizzling from the traveling wood-fired oven surely will. Loaded with mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, mushrooms and onions stacked atop a savory tomato sauce, this pizza pie rendition is a meat-lover’s dream come true. The organic Colorado wheat kneaded into a perfectly thin — slightly chewy, slightly crunchy — dough provides the perfect delivery platform. $10.
Grilled Turkey Pesto Sandwich
Great Harvest Bread Co., 2525 Arapahoe Ave., Suite A-4, Boulder, ghboulder.com
Walk into Great Harvest at any time of the day and the first thing you’ll notice is the aroma winding its way from the ovens in the back of the room, between the shelves of freshly baked loaves of savory and sweet breads, and around the trays of gourmet cookies, pumpkin rolls and other baked delicacies. If you can withstand the near sensory overload and compose yourself enough to order, try the grilled turkey pesto sandwich: slices of grilled turkey breast coated in melted aged provolone, topped with thinly sliced red onions, crisp green leaf lettuce and fresh tomato slices. The accompanying mayo, balsamic vinegar and basil pesto make this sandwich stand apart, nestled between two slices of their freshly baked asiago sourdough. $7.75.
