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Isn’t it crazy when someone tells you about a fantastic lunch place in your area and you find out that it’s been quietly operating for about a year and a half? Open weekdays, HealthyCA Foods on Lankershim serves exactly the kind of food I’ve been dreaming about for so long; healthy, delicious and affordable.

Chef Maki [pictured below] draws on his years of professional cooking to bring healthy fare to the East Valley. His abundant menu is heavy on vegetarian options as well as several meat selections. He uses high quality, mostly organic ingredients and produce - even the salmon is wild caught. The almost sinfully delectable homemade dressings, sauces and spreads are made daily. In Maki’s kitchen they don’t use preservatives or butter, just exquisite oils, vinegars and herbs.

Averaging around $8.50, the boxed salads may seem pricey, but they certainly are plentiful. More than just a full meal, you may even find yourself eating half of it for lunch the next day. I did, and still found mine fresh, crisp and tasty.

There are eleven different salads to choose from but I just can’t seen to graduate from my favorite albacore tuna salad with roasted beets, creamy white cannellini beans, slices of hard-boiled egg and red potatoes, cherry tomatoes, red onions (I substitute grilled onions), tasty little black nicoise olives all on a bed of greens scented with tarragon.

Other salad options include the southwestern with marinated chicken breast, grilled corn, black beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, jicama, avocado and toasted pepitas on a bed of greens. Or the tofancho which is mild and tasty ancho chilli-marinated and grilled tofu with carrots, cucumber, avocado, daikon (japanese radish) sprouts and cilantro on a bed of greens. Or for simplicity try the good earth salad of buffalo mozzarella, roma tomatoes, fresh basil and hearts of palm on a bed of greens.

All eleven salads come with a little pot of an additional gourmet salad. You can choose either quinoa salad, herbed rice, exciting wild rice medley, potato salad or fresh fruit - most are full of tiny diced ingredients and plump grains.

Add to all that a pot of dressing from the list of ten, such as non-fat basil, oriental, roasted peppers, chipotle, low-fat ranch, balsamic, italian, apple cider, delicious lemon-olive oil or - my favorite - a stunning low-fat citrus dressing.

Once presented and consumed, this beautifully balanced salad is huge on the ‘wow’ factor. Quite simply, anyone who is weary of salads needs to come to HealthyCA. You will fall in love with their fantastic flavors.

You can get fresh juices and smoothies. Then there are the hot and cold sandwiches, priced around $8.50. One of ten on offer, the roasted real mc coy, features roasted eggplant, red peppers and purple onions plus oven dried tomatoes, mozzarella, avocado and pesto sauce plus lettuce.

They also have some hot dishes on their menu each served with a hot or cold side such as steamed basmati rice or smashed red potatoes or coconut curried vegetables. Swordfish marinated in lime and blackened with spices ($10.95) or maple glazed salmon filet topped with mango and avocado salsa ($11.50). There’s even a vegan macrobiotic tofu-grain patty with pesto sauce ($9.50) - I’m telling you, this is seriously healthy yet yummy fare!

With its open kitchen, the venue has a somewhat industrial vibe although there are some inspirational sayings chalked on the board and half a dozen little square tables by the sunny picture windows. While I prefer to take my lunch home, it does seem like a nice casual place to relax and eat in.

Next time you’re ravenous and don’t know what you want, head over to HealthyCA. You’ll be sure to find something to tempt your palate and get your stomach growling.

Eat in, take out, delivery and custom catering - HealthyCA has it all covered.

HealthyCA Foods
4724 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91602

Monday - Friday - 10am-5pm
delivery hours - 11am-3pm
(818) 505-1035
(818) 050-1037 fax

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She is completing a family cookbook and also writes novels for 8-12 year olds.