I am not an advocate of a low-carb diet—or any diet for that matter. But let’s face facts. Sometimes—like for instance after a week in Philly spent stuffing your face with cheese steak, pizza and homemade ravioli, and with the holiday binge fast approaching—it pays to slow down a little.

With that in mind I want to share with you my newest low-carb and healthy local restaurant entrée. I say low-carb because I hesitate to call it low-calorie, given the crab meat and shrimp. Still, it’s a clean-tasting, fresh but very filling meal. It’s the stuffed artichoke at Woodhouse Fish Co., which just happens to be in my neighborhood: a whole fat artichoke, halved and grilled, drizzled with vinaigrette and stuffed with crab on one half and shrimp on the other. The shredded crab in particular tastes immensely fresh. The greens the whole shebang sits on are likewise vibrant and lightly dressed. And who doesn’t love the ritual of peeling each artichoke leaf, one by one, and dipping them into something yummy like aioli?


Photo by Joe Budd

OK, so the aioli is not so diet-conscious. And neither is the drink I usually order: Woodhouse’s genius DIY lemonade. They bring you a half-glass of fresh, ultra-tart lemon juice on ice, a tiny carafe of simple syrup, and a pitcher of water. You mix it to your desired sweetness. Start out tart and later, add a bit more syrup for a sweeter finish. It might be a little sweet, and the artichoke might be huge and stuffed with shellfish, but hey, it’s got to be healthier than cheese steaks as big as your forearm.