Devouring Milestones’ pop-up menu, with limited-time superfood dishes

“New year, new me” — it’s fun to say, isn’t it? In many cases, imagining what this new you will be like hinges on eating habits. This leads us to a familiar conclusion: if we want to eat well, it isn’t going to be fun.

This isn’t always the case — at least, not at Milestones.The popular dining destination is unveiling its 2019 Superfoods Menu, a custom-designed menu on offer until February 24. Now in its third year, the menu builds on the establishment’s reputation for matching high-quality ingredients with imaginative preparation and plating. It’s characterized by a deliberate concentration on specially selected superfoods that, when combined, make for delightfully flavourful, wellness-oriented meals. It’s essentially the “new year, new me” of menus: a modern dining experience designed to help you stick to your resolutions without sacrificing taste.

This year’s Superfoods Menu is composed of six dishes across three courses. Appetizers include the Cakes by the Ocean and the Superfood Salad, both of which were high-demand offerings on last year’s menu. Cakes by the Ocean is a subtle and playful combination of crispy croquettes made of salmon, shrimp and quinoa, topped with the fresh kick and bright visual pop of mango salsa. This protein-rich assembly is bedded on wild baby arugula and avocado dill aioli.

The Superfood Salad offers a bounty of superfoods on one plate: arugula, sweet potato, avocado, quinoa, goji berries and edamame comprise some of the ingredients in this fibre- and antioxidant-filled medley. The salad is accompanied by a crowd-pleasing maple-miso dressing for a fun blend of Asian and Canadian flavours.

The brand-new Ahi Tuna Power Bowl is a hearty main dish inspired by the bounty of the Pacific. Ahi tuna, edamame, mushrooms, grilled pineapple, grape tomatoes, golden beets, sweet potato and rice noodles mingle with a sweet-and-savoury marriage of wasabi ponzu and peanut sauces to make for a creative and balanced bowl.

The Pan-Seared Rainbow Trout is another new entrée for the 2019 menu, boasting plentiful omega-3s to help boost your immune system through the winter months. A fillet of pan-seared rainbow trout sits atop a bed of spaghetti squash, wilted arugula, kale, baby spinach and roasted mushrooms. This flavour-packed base is garnished with a charred pineapple and goji berry salsa and complemented by basil-infused oil. This dish heightens the taste of rainbow trout with a chorus of superfoods, making for a hearty midwinter meal.

Another alumnus from last year’s Superfoods Menu is the Fiery Tunisian Chicken. The dish enhances the scorched, spicy cuisine of North Africa with superfood flare. Grilled chicken with a piquant harissa sauce is topped with a dollop of goji-berry- and cucumber-infused Greek yogurt and sits atop a roasted sweet potato quinoa pilaf. This exquisite offering is rounded out with a bounty of seasonal vegetables.

Can’t decide if you want a dessert or just a coffee after dinner? The Chestnut Espresso Crème Brûlée lets you have both. Crème brûlées are always a welcome final course, especially when they incorporate the satisfying kick of coffee to round things out. Sweet chestnut and full-bodied espresso come together to create a balance of bitter and sweet in the crème brûlée mixture, and it’s all topped with a fig jam and a dash of spiced pecans for crunch.

Milestones’ Superfoods Menu is a success because it gives us exactly what we need: uncompromising flavour, nutritious, high-quality ingredients, and sharp plating and design. It lets you explore a new you while still enjoying all that dining out has to offer. Take advantage of this menu while you can, and let it inspire a new mantra for 2019: living deliciously and living healthily are not mutually exclusive.