New Summer Items Hit Panera Bread!

By: Finance Foodie

Fresh flavors, fresh ingredients and fresh takes on seasonal classics all signal that its summertime at Panera Bread. This commitment to freshness comes through in Panera’s summer menu specials: the Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad, the Frozen Strawberry Lemonade, the new Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup, Seasonal Fruit Cups and Flower Cookies.

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The Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad is returning to the menu for its 8th consecutive year. It's made with antibiotic-free citrus pepper chicken, crisp romaine lettuce and accented with mandarin oranges, pecans and fresh strawberries, blueberries and pineapple chunks -- all tossed in Panera’s fat-free poppyseed dressing. The strawberries, blueberries and pineapple are the real heroes of this salad as they are served fresh and never frozen. The dressing is the right finishing touch as the poppy seeds in the fat-free dressing provide a crunch to contrast the fruit texture and finish the salad with a subtle nutty flavor. With only 13 grams of fat and 340 calories, this salad has all of the flavor with none of the guilt.

The new Mediterranean-inspired Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup was added to the menu as part of head chef Dan Kish’s love and appreciation for the “soups of the world.” It’s made with all natural chicken, orzo pasta, spinach, carrots, oregano and basil, simmered in a lemon-infused broth then topped with a lemon wheel. According to Kish, former associate dean at the Culinary Institute of America, “This delicious soup is modeled after the traditional Greek soup, Avgolemono. The acidity in the lemon brightens the soup, making it appropriate for the summer months.”

Nothing's better than a refreshing and flavorful beverages as a respite from the summer heat. For that reason, Panera created the Frozen Strawberry Lemonade with real strawberry puree, in combination with its signature lemonade with no high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors (unlike *cough McDonald's offering cough*). This beverage strikes the perfect balance between the tartness of the lemonade and the sweetness of the strawberries, making it a refreshing choice alone or paired with Panera’s salads, particularly the Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken Salad. PS it's also fat free and only 180 calories for 16 ounces.

Two other summer pleasures not to be missed: Panera’s Fruit Cups and new Flower Cookie. Bakery-cafes are offering two fruit cup choices, both made with the season’s best watermelon. One is all watermelon and the other is a mixed fruit cup with watermelon. Lastly, don’t forget to pick up one of Panera’s new Flower Cookies. Panera’s bakers start with a Shortbread Cookie in the shape of a flower, and decorate it with sunny yellow icing and a sprinkle of pink sanding sugar.

For those readers in the Boston area, be sure to also check out the newest Panera Bread shop opening in Porter Square on July 6th -- the 40th bakery-café in Greater Boston and the first in Cambridge!

***Giveaway***


Congrats #67 - Andrea! 

Panera wants to send one of my readers a $25 Panera Bread gift card to try out the summer menu!

You can enter up to THREE times:
1. REQUIRED: In my comments section, leave your email address and tell me which summer menu item you are most excited to try .
2. Follow Finance Foodie on Twitter (leave a separate comment telling me this)
3. Reblog / Retweet this giveaway (leave a separate comment telling me this)

Contest ends Friday July 8 at 5pm EST. Winners will be chosen via random integer generator on random.org announced on the financefoodie.com site shortly afterwards that night!

[Full disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by Panera Bread. Photos Courtesy: Panera Bread. I was not compensated for this post.]