Rhia's Kitchen : Live Comfort Food whips up new healthy dishes

When it comes to healthy gastronomic options in Iloilo, LIVE is most often the top choice. With its "Promoting Healthy Living through Healthy Eating" tagline, the restaurant caters not only to the health conscious but also to the discriminating taste of the Ilonggos.

LIVE recently underwent a store re-branding to become LIVE Comfort Food. And along with its new name comes an array of new dishes - all healthy and delightful comfort food.

But to start with, it was a gastronomic review of their all-time favorites which our taste buds instantly recognize.

Our healthy gastronomic journey started with a Vietnamese specialty - Gỏi cuốn / Fresh Spring Rolls. LIVE's version consists of rice noodles, herbs, sprouts, cucumber, carrots and one of the following - chicken, shrimp or tofu. It comes a peanut sauce dip and chili sauce. (PhP155)

From Vietnam, our food journey went to India with an assortment of Roti - unleavened flat bread. But LIVE gave this Indian specialty a Mexican twist with its Roti Quesdilla. The roti is filled with cheese, mushroom and roasted garlic with garlic yoghurt and tomato salsa as dip. (PhP200)

Starting the new dishes selection is Edamame with Chimichurri - a fusion of Oriental and South American cooking. Edamame is an East Asian preparation of immature soybeans in the pod - boiled or steamed. It is served with Chimichurri which is an uncooked sauce originating Argentina and Uruguay made of finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and red wine vinegar. (from Wikipedia 1/2) (PhP120)

How about some Salmon Poke Bowl? No, there's no Pokemon inside this dish as you might think but it's sweet and spicy drenched salmon with poached egg, kamote leaves, tomatoes and cucumber. (PhP320)

But if you prefer poultry to whet your appetite, here's some Latin Roast Chicken Chop Salad. It's brined and slow roasted marinated in spcies, lemon and garlic with salad greens in herbed yougurt dressing. (PhP145)

Want more chicken? Try this delectable Chicken Teriyaki Pizza! A fusion of Italian and Japanese, this wheat crust pizza is topped with chicken breast cooked teriyaki-style and smothered with three mushrooms sauce! (PhP325)

Where there's pizza, there's also Smoked Bangus and Lemon Pasta. This time it's an Italian and Filipino fusion dish made of toasted Tinapa na Bangus (smoked milkfish) with tomatoes, lemon and garlic bread crumbs over pasta. (PhP280)

Now here's something interesting - Seafood and Lychee in Red Curry. A melange of seafood (shrimp, squid, fish) in Thai-style curry with lemongrass, kaffir lime and coconut milk garnished with lychee, cilantro and nori. (PhP350)

Go Korean this time with Meatless Bibimbap. Literally meaning "mixed rice" this bibimbap is composed of purple rice, tofu in Korean sauce, an assortment of vegetables like carrots, cabbage and kamote leaves topped with egg and garnished with nori. (PhP335)

Here's another Korean inspired dish - Kimchi Rice. made with rice mixed with the Korean staple, kimchi, with strips of beef & vegetables and served with egg. (PhP280)

But if you prefer this Filipino-style of eating rice you can have Salmon and Tuna Kebab. Fresh salmon and tuna skewered with assorted vegetables topped with garlic yogurt sauce and served with turmeric rice pilaf. (PhP340)

Remember the Latin Roast Chicken Chop Salad above? You can have a bigger piece of the "brined and slow roasted marinated in spcies, lemon and garlic" chicken served with turmeric rice pilaf for a more fillign serving of Latin Roast Chicken. (PhP380)

A smoothie bowl is a thick blend of whole foods, such as frozen fruits, veggies and other healthful mix-ins (e.g. avocado, oats or yogurt). Compared to the smoothies you're used to sipping with a straw, the base of a smoothie bowl has a slightly thicker, almost ice-cream like consistency. (Source)

LIVE offers two variants of this deliciously healthy snack - Carrot Cake and Choco Banana (PhP230 each)

To cap it all off, end it with a healthy dessert - Mango Berry Chia Pudding. A light and nutritious dessert made with fresh mangoes, raspberries, cranberries, chia and granola.

Aside from the healthy dine-in comfort food and healthy to-go meals and drinks, LIVE also offers a wide variety of products from assorted nuts, healthy chips and trail mixes to edible seeds like sunflower, chia and flaxseed.

It's always a healthy gastronomic journey whenever you dine at LIVE. And just like any travels - even just food trips, it is how you make the most of it along the way. In this case, it is how and what you eat that makes you LIVE well...

Live Comfort Food is located at the 2nd Level of SM Southpoint at SM City in Mandurriao Iloilo.