Restaurants Offering Healthy Options to Kickstart 2021

TWO LOCAL HOT spots are serving up new menu items to help Houstonians actuallyenjoy sticking to their resolutions.

Washington Ave's FM Kitchen & Bar, which is set to open a second location in Montrose in the spring, has refreshed its happy-hour offerings and has rolled out new rotating daily specials and a late-night menu. Lighter dishes now available for 25 percent off during happy-hour — weekdays from 3-6:30pm! — include jalapeno-pea hummus, crispy Brussels sprouts with bacon jam, and shrimp remoulade with housemade potato chips. Chef Bety Berrera has also added grilled salmon tacos and salsa-verde-topped flank steak to the main menu.

Low- and no-alcohol cocktails, while introduced during Dry January, will remain on the menu even as the calendar pages turn. Some are made with hard seltzer in lieu of liquor, like the low-ABV cosmo or mojito. And FM Kitchen is now pouring the non-alcoholic spirit brand Seedlip, as in the Bachata Barbara tiki cocktail made with Seedlip Grove 42, passion fruit, lemon and ginger beer.

Meanwhile, Bellagreen's seasonal menu touts two chef's specials, available during dinner only. The Paleo Prime Ribeye is topped with avocado-chimichurri sauce and served with bacon-jam-tossed Brussels sprouts. And the new seared almond-crusted snapper is plated atop lemon-cilantro mashed potatoes.

Other new menu items available all day include a broccoli-smoked-gouda soup, Paleo salmon tacos, and a pear-and-cranberry salad with roasted butternut squash and goat cheese. (Wash it all down with Bellagreen's full-bodied winter sangria!)