Affordable food: forget diets. This New Jersey spot promotes a healthy lifestyle

It’s a continuation of our healthy January Affordable dishes for all those who have decided to eat better this new year. If you follow this series every Friday, you’ll have plenty of places to eat all over New Jersey without increasing your waistline!

Welcome to Soul Bowlswhich started as a food truck in 2017 and has grown into a thriving plant-based restaurant with two locations in Scotch Plains and Metuchen. Soul Bowls proves that healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring. Their plant-based menu is bursting with flavor and the variety of offerings are worth exploring.

Sisters Alicia and Michelene Lambros, both in their 30s, are the founders of Soul Bowls. The daughters of Italian and Greek immigrants adjusted their portion sizes to be more reasonable than American restaurants.

“Healthy eating can be delicious and satisfying,” Alicia Lambros said with a laugh. “Everything we offer here at Soul Bowls is plant-based, which means no meat or dairy. And we only use organic ingredients.

Michelene Lambros agreed.

“I always say it’s the portions,” she added. “This is what really speaks to our ethnicity – in a very, very, BIG way!”

The Soul Bowls menu includes popular bowls like the pbnj ($13.50) with acai, Soulnola® (instead of granola), banana, strawberries, raspberries, peanut butter and agave. Another best-seller is the Butter of Love ($14.00) made with acai and pitaya, bananas, raspberries, peanut butter, chocolate chips, Soultella® (instead of Nutella), Soulnola® and agave.

These offerings may seem lavish, but they’re more than healthy.

“We focus on whole foods, meaning raw, without additives or preservatives,” Alicia Lambros said. “We don’t promote diets. Instead, we advocate a healthy lifestyle. Diets are temporary. The way of life is eternal.

I tried both bowls mentioned above and was surprised by their decadent and rich flavors. The pbnj didn’t taste like what I expected, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! It had depth and tang, was rich and very flavorful. Beurre d’amour had all of that, with that decadent, nutty flavor of Soultella®.

With the temperature outside near freezing, I tried the warm oatmeal bowl ($12.00), a homemade concoction of oats, oatmeal (whole grain), chia seeds, agave and lots of coconut.

I love oatmeal in the winter, but if you haven’t tried oatmeal at Soul Bowls, you’re missing out on a major event!! This bowl of oatmeal was decadent with a hint of sweet and great flavor from coconut and agave.

I should have stopped there, but I kept going! I tried the detox juice ($9.00) with red apple, pineapple, jalapeno, ginger and lime. It was delicious, light and very refreshing.

Finally, I finished my healthy taste journey with the Healing Shot ($4.00), which contains turmeric, ginger, lemon, and black pepper. It was quite strong but also tasty.

Alicia Lambros offered me another juice, but I raised my hands in surrender! She laughed, saying, “We are what we eat and food can be our medicine.” We have developed recipes here at Soul Bowls that are mindful of these fundamental, healthy principles.

If you’ve decided to eat better this year, head to Soul Bowls in Scotch Plains or Metuchen. Your heart, body, soul and waistline will thank you!