Chicago Sights: Visiting the Taste of Chicago This Year?

Every year for 35 years, downtown Chicago is transformed into a foodie zone, as the Taste of Chicago gears up to make those of us with insatiable appetites and a hankering for finding new places to dine, very happy. A couple of years ago, Mr. Houseful and I discovered Sabor Latino and our love for jibaritos. SO GOOD!  For the third year in a row, I’m teaming up with Humana and their Healthier Choices program to offer 24 tickets to one Taste attendee. Maybe you’ll remember from my first and second years of partnering with Humana, my love of the mustard fried catfish from BJ’s Market & Bakery. It was one of the items that I enjoyed most, and didn’t make me feel like I was depriving myself. I don’t want to deprive you either, so make sure you enter the GIVEAWAY at the bottom of the blog post! 

If you think that you’ll be deprived like I thought, think again. The Taste of Chicago offers many options for those of us who still want to get a great Taste of Chicago experience in, while still staying true to those eating habits that we established earlier this year, or this month, or this week. Either way, we don’t want you feeling guilty when you leave the downtown area. 

For a bit of background, Humana has been offering healthier choices for longer than the ladybug has been alive (eight years to be exact) and this is the FIRST year that they are offering vegetarian options. Here are other facts that may interest you. Notice that you can win items from the Humana tent, all while enjoying taste or full-sized portions of food around the festival! There are always pedometers being given away so you can log all of those steps that you will be accumulating at the end of your visit. 

About Humana Healthier Choice Options:

• This year’s program features 48 healthy food options from 24 Chicago restaurants that meet nutritional criteria.
• The program is also promoting six gluten-free items from the restaurant Dia De Los Tamales to accommodate the evolution of changing dietary restrictions and preferences.
• The Humana Healthier Choices will be identified by a green apple on the menu boards at participating restaurant booths.
• The Humana Healthier Choices list of items will be handed out at the Humana tent and can be downloaded at the Taste of Chicago website and via facebook.com/TheTasteOfChicago.
• All of the restaurants participating in the 2015 Taste of Chicago were invited to submit their menu items for consideration for the Humana Healthier Choices program.

o   For an item to be considered, restaurants must submit nutritional details including calories, sodium content, saturated fat and the list of ingredients.

• A panel of five top Chicago-area physicians with expertise in diet and nutrition collaboratively judged each item to assure that nutritional values were met.

Humana Healthier Choices Rewards Program:

• After receiving a free Humana Healthier Choices Tag, which comes with a lanyard for a hands-free and convenient experience, participants can collect stamps by sampling any Humana Healthier Choices food item or participating in healthy activities at the Humana tent.
• Once Taste-goers receive six stamps, they can drop off their badge at the Humana tent to be entered into random prize drawings, donated by the Taste of Chicago restaurants.

o   Prize winners will be announced on July 12 starting at by 8:45 p.m. CDT. On social media, Taste-goers are encouraged to join the conversation and share their Humana Healthier Choices food items on Instagram, mentioning @Humana, #TasteofChi and #HealthierChoices. 

Humana Tent at Taste of Chicago

• Take a break from the July heat by enjoying a shaded seating area in the Humana tent, which will feature a backyard barbecue/tailgating theme, trivia wheels and a photo booth.
• There will also be a Walk & Wellness Station where participants can take a free pedometer – if they don’t have their own fitness device or app – and will then be encouraged to return to the tent after walking around the Taste of Chicago to report their steps.
• Humana will host a healthy food cook-off between Chicago Bears alum Tom Thayer and WXRT DJ Johnny Mars at 12:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 11.

Humana Healthier Choices for Taste of Chicago 2015 (vegetarian options noted by a V): 

Appetizers/Starters – Less than 320 calories, 300 mg sodium and 2 g saturated fat 

• Taste Portion of Veggie (Vegan) Burger (V) – Beat Kitchen
• Taste Portion of Mustard Fried Catfish – BJ’s Market
• Taste Portion of Grilled Chicken Taco – Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill
• Taste Portion of Grilled Steak Taco – Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill
• Corn on the Cob (V) – Mariano’s
• Roasted Celtic Corn on the Cob (V) – O’Brien’s Restaurant
• Taste Portion of Doner Kebab (V) – DönerMen
• Taste Portion of Shrimp on a Stick – Haire’s Gulf Shrimp
• Taste Portion of Avocado Toast (V) – Farmer’s Fridge
• Taste Portion of Watermelon Hibiscus Gazpacho (V) – Farmer’s Fridge
• Taste Portion of Chap Chae (V) – Jin Ju

Main Dishes – Less than 500 calories, 500 mg sodium and 4 g saturated fat 

• Veggie (Vegan) Burger (V) – Beat Kitchen
• Mustard Fried Catfish – BJ’s Market
• Grilled Steak Taco – Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill
• Grilled Chicken Taco – Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill
• Taste Portion of Smoked Alligator – Chicago’s Dog House
• Taste Portion of Smoked Rattlesnake with Rabbit – Chicago’s Dog House
• Watermelon Hibiscus Gazpacho (V) – Farmer’s Fridge
• Avocado Toast (V) – Farmer’s Fridge
• Vegetable Spinach and Plantains (V) – Iyanze
• Taste Portion of Jerk Chicken – Iyanze
• Chicken Ke-Bob Curry Rice with Vegetables – Kasia’s Deli
• Malnati Salad (V) – Lou Malnati’s
• Grilled Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Cucumber Salad – Star of Siam
• Doner Kebab (V) – DönerMen
• Kebab Salad (V) – DönerMen
• Chap Chae (V) – Jin Ju
• Vegetable with Cheese Sandwich (V) – Gino’s Steaks Truck
• Taste Portion of Chicken Tacos – La Cocinita
• Black Bean and Cheese Arepa with Venezuelan Guacamole (V) – La Cocinita
• Taste Portion of Grilled Cheese (V) – The Fat Shallot

Desserts – Less than 320 calories, 300 mg sodium and 2 g saturated fat 

• Taste Portion of Lemon Sorbet (V) – Caffe Gelato
• Blood Orange Sorbet (V) – Caffe Gelato
• Taste Portion of Peach Cobbler Gelato (V) – Caffe Gelato
• Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato (V) – Caffe Gelato
• Italian Lemon Ice (V) – Franco’s Ristorante
• Taste Portion of Italian Lemon Ice (V) – Franco’s Ristorante
• Italian Watermelon Ice (V) – Franco’s Ristorante
• Taste Portion of Italian Watermelon Ice (V) – Franco’s Ristorante
• Lemon-Lime Paleta (V) – La Mexicana
• Strawberry Paleta (V) – La Mexicana
• Taste Portion of Strawberry Paleta (V) – La Mexicana
• Mango Paleta (V) – La Mexicana
• Watermelon Paleta (V) – La Mexicana
• Taste Portion of Watermelon Paleta (V) – La Mexicana
• Sliced Watermelon (V) – Mariano’s
• Mango Sorbet (V) – Star of Siam
• Chocolate Frozen Baby Banana (V) – The Fudge Pot
• Chocolate Dipped Strawberry (V) – The Fudge Pot
• Taste Portion of 2 Dinky Donuts (V) – Dinky Donuts
• Red Velvet Cupcake Mini (V) – Ms. Tittle’s Cupcake
• Frozen Mango Kefir with Granola (V) – Starfruit Café
• Taste Portion of Frozen Mango Kefir (V) – Starfruit Café
• Frozen Original Kefir with Fresh Blueberries (V) – Starfruit Café
• Taste Portion of Frozen Original Kefir (V) – Starfruit Café

The following items, available from Dia De Los Tamales, do not meet the Humana Healthier Choices nutrition criteria but provide options for Taste-goers with gluten-free dietary restrictions:

• Slow Roasted Cuban Pork Tamale
• Taste Portion of Slow Roasted Cuban Pork Tamale
• Spicy Black Bean & Corn Tamale (V)
• Taste Portion of Spicy Black Bean & Corn Tamale (V)
• Buffalo Chicken with Blue Cheese Tamale
• Roasted Pepper Goat Cheese Tamale (V)

 Please pick-up your tickets from our Humana representative housed at the Humana Healthier Choices tent no later than 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 11^th
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post was a compensated post, but all the thoughts and views were mine.  Humana Healthier Choices information and the Taste tickets have been provided by Humana