Related Content

• More A Fork on the Road columns
• Fork on the Road Recipe: Yogurt And Spinach Appetizer
• Map

20 ways to pinch pennies and still eat healthy

Have you tried organic goji berries from the Himalayas?

An acquired taste, the antioxidant-rich jewels look a lot like red raisins. You can buy a bag at health food stores, but at $14 to $18 a pound, they aren't considered cheap eats.

But trying to trim your food budget doesn't mean you should give up on making healthy choices.

Three to see for healthy, flavorful fare

Dining out doesn't have to be incompatible with healthy eating. Here are three places that offer plenty of fresh and nutritious choices with healthy choices. If someone in your party wants to indulge, they can do that too.

BAMBOO NOAH'S

Hidden in a tiny Plantation strip shopping center set back from the road, Bamboo Noah's is a secret worth discovering. Simon Berdugo opened the fast-casual restaurant in December, naming it for his son.

Recipe: Exotic Rice Pudding on Demand

DESSERT

EXOTIC RICE PUDDING ON DEMAND

This recipe comes from Deborah Madison's mother, Winifred.

Under-$20 alternatives for Miami Spice deals

I can't spend $22 for lunch (even if it has three courses). And $35 is a full tank of gas, so dinner at Bond Street Lounge is out, too. What's a Miami Spice reject to do -- cower between stale caprese salads and shrimp tempura globs?

Here's a gourmet grunge dining guide for the white truffle-underdogs. You'd be surprised at what you can find around town for $20 or less.

Visiting Al-Salam is like stumbling into a Damascus stall in the middle of Plantation. This is the real thing -- no faux belly dancers, colorful drapery and hookah gimmicks, just authentic dishes set in a cafeteria-like setting. The platter of mixed appetizers includes hummus, baba ghannoush, moussaka, tabbouleh, two falafel balls, two kibbehs and two grape leaves ($12.99). The hummus glistens with lemon juice and olive oil, smells like roasted peanuts and tastes like it was made by Mother Earth. The piping hot kibbeh is like a crunchy meatball. At the platter's center is the tabbouleh salad -- an ode to parsley. For carnivores, there

Dining roundup | Northwest passage to Old World dining

The northwest suburbs of Miami-Dade offer any number of Latin American restaurants, but cuisines from the other side of the Atlantic are a bit harder to find. Here are two Miami Lakes restaurants that boast a taste of the continent and a Doral spot with Mediterranean flair.

EL PIMIENTO

As the name promises, this small (14-table) Spanish restaurant provides a bit of spice in the heart of Miami Lakes. Tucked into the Windmill Gate shopping plaza and not visible from the street, it's worth seeking out.