Baker and Wife, 2157 Siesta Drive, 941-960-1765

My mom and I like to steal away to Baker and Wife for lunch at least once a week. We’ve taken to sharing a selection of salads, which ensure a healthy vegetarian lunch that still manages to be a tasty highpoint of the week. This is the progression I recommend: order the Slow Roasted Yellow Beets Salad, the Roasted Cauliflower and Tomato Salad, and any salad that contains watermelon (on our last sojourn it was Burrata, Watermelon, and Mint), then eat them in that order. The beet salad features cold slices of sweet yellow beet coated in a homemade basil pesto with toasted pine nut, shaved parmesan and goat cheese. This is a nutty, crunchy, creamy, sweet and salty treat. The Roasted Cauliflower and Tomato Salad is warm and hearty and the peppery arugula and salty capers complement the dill dressing artfully. Finish with the watermelon salad and you’ll feel as though you’ve enjoyed a three course meal, including dessert. You’ll be satisfied and energetic for the rest of the day.

Baker and Wife, 2157 Siesta Drive, 941-960-1765