Voice's Choices – Keep it healthy

Brookside Farmer's Market // 41st & Peoria // Natasha Ball

I’m the type who won’t eat a salad until I’ve eaten too many cheeseburgers, but at least I can buy the beef locally, conveniently, and priced reasonably at the Brookside Farmers Market. If it’s summer, I grab these grapes while I’m there. They’re Jupiters, a deep purple, seedless Muscat that will ruin you forever for grocery-store grapes. I halved them for chicken salad once. Every winter since has seemed meaner.

Wed, 7:30-11 a.m.

The Brook // 3401 S. Peoria // Matt Cauthron

When I think of The Brook, I think of gigantic portions of comfort food, possibly topped with cheese and gravy, possibly accompanied by a deep-fried side. But if you’re staying away from such indulgences, this Tulsa institution has plenty of healthy options—perhaps none more satisfying than a sizzling griddle of fajitas with onions and peppers. The only challenge is convincing yourself to utter the words, “No sour cream, please.”

Sun-Fri, 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat, 11 a.m.-Midnight

Big Al's // 3303 E. 15th St // Allison Keim

When it’s hot outside and you are trying your darndest to get back in your bikini, the Ultimate Salad at Big Al’s is a healthy and delicious lunch. It starts with fresh spinach and is topped with sunflower seeds, jalapeños, onion, avocado, smoked turkey, tomatoes, egg, black beans, red cabbage, cheese, carrots, and sprouts. I recommend the homemade yogurt tahini to dress the salad and, to sip on, a freshly blended juice called “Carrot Stress Relief.”

Mon-Sat, 10 A.M.-4 P.M.

Laffa // 111 N. Main St // Josh Kampf

You don’t have to narrow your healthy choices here. Downtown’s Medi-Eastern Mecca offers a mezze medley, giving you the choice of six hot or cold appetizers that could make a filling meal or a shareable appetizer course. Don’t leave out the roasted Ras el Hanout cauliflower salad, an Algerian-inspired concoction with more exotic spices than a 90s Brit-pop girl group.

Every day, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.