How to Fit the Plant Kingdom into a Burger: 10 Fast-Food Trends

By Jenn Mar

Considering that “granola” used to be a dirty word, it’s puzzling that some of the most innovative restaurants have been building menus around grains and vegetables à la Amanda Cohen’s Dirt Candy. We’ve reached a “clean-eating moment,” and fast-food restaurants have joined in on the trend. Watching meat palaces go through a vegetarian phase is as mesmerizing as the shifting phases of the moon. But concocting delicious vegan or vegetarian fast food is no easy feat. It’s one thing to make nourishing plant-based meals laden with flavors. It’s another to do it cheaply in an economy of scale. Today token gestures won’t cut it, says Mark Bittman — we have higher expectations. These days there’s plenty of deliciousness out there. Here are some of our favorite fast-food trends celebrating the plant kingdom.

Fast-Food Trends: Vegetarian Poke Bowls

Where: Pokéworks

You don’t have to book a ticket to Hawaii, or eat fish, to enjoy a poke bowl anymore. Poke is Hawaiian crudo dressed with enough sauces and seasonings to sing out from a bed of mix-ins and warm rice. Pokéworks offers a vegetarian take with tofu and a sweet Korean-style chili sauce. You can also build your own with heaps of vegetables and lacy, reddish-brown seaweed that bursts in your mouth with oceany flavors.

Fast-Food Trends: Power Grains

Where: Zoës Kitchen

The power grain bowl is a reminder that energy-replenishing grains and tendrils of vegetables have been with us all along. The bowl at Zoës Kitchen is grounded in lentils, quinoa, farro, and rice — and so loses none of its chew or evolving texture. The mound of earthy grains is lifted by bright, cooling tzatziki and herbaceous salsa verde.

Fast-Food Trends: Sneaky Sushi

Where: Beyond Sushi

If cooked too long, tender greens begin to sulk — plants, if treated badly, are unforgiving. But if done right, and seasoned well, vegetables are very much a golden miracle. Mini-chain Beyond Sushi builds vegetarian sushi on surprises like curried cauliflower and harissa-brushed charred corn. The vegetables are rolled in a layer of obscenely delicious (nutty, chewy, dense) Forbidden Rice. The sushi is thoughtfully priced, too.

Read the rest of our list here.