Blooming Burritos

Known for its burritos but idealized for its dedication to fresh and organic ingredients, Laughing Planet Café is often revered in Bloomington as the quintessential good-for-you restaurant. Centrally located on Kirkwood above Soma Coffee House & Juice Bar, Laughing Planet is casual enough to grab a quick bite to eat alone, but interesting enough for a memorable dining experience.
Giving off an almost tropical vibe, the always laid-back atmosphere of Laughing Planet is deliciously peculiar. The main seating area is accented with spindly hanging plants, Technicolor paintings and past Little 500 bike shirts; a shrine of a plastic T-Rex dinosaur sits next to the more serious altar of a write-a-prayer Virgin Mary.
One of my favorite items on the menu is the “Steamed Veggies with Rice and Beans”: a bowl chock-full of skillfully steamed vegetables, a choice of pinto or black beans, heaps of organic brown rice and mild, medium or spicy salsa. It gets you satisfyingly full, but it also energizes you, as opposed to making you sluggish.
As for the burritos, I went the Mediterranean route and ordered the “Jimmy the Greek” burrito. It was more like a wrap than a burrito, containing smooth feta cheese, salty kalamata olives, fresh spinach, organic brown rice, onions and tomatoes. The flavors were alternative, almost like a Greek salad (which Laughing Planet also serves) but quite lovely.
For more classic burrito tastes, try the “Classic.” Completely straightforward and un-fooled around with, brown rice, pinto beans, jack cheese and salsa fresca, a cilantro-dense tomato mixture, are in concert with a soft flour tortilla, available in wheat, of course. The whole burrito ensemble is a recipe for sweet, sweet music.
If you yearn to express your creative juices, Laughing Planet offers more than 25 “Add-Ins” to cater burritos to individual tastes. Crave a more Oriental flavor? Ask the friendly “burristas” to douse peanut curry sauce over the ingredients. Looking for added heat? Jalapeno peppers are your saviors.
Though Laughing Planet’s burritos are its star item, do not underestimate the other items on the menu, such as the quesadillas, homemade soups (try the Spanish Garbanzo Bean soup if it’s available) and an array of other natural and wholesome fare.
For dessert, you have two excellent options: The first and most obvious is to grab a vegan chocolate-chip cookie from Laughing Planet. Do not turn your nose at vegan items, as they are often better than nonvegan pastries. Or second, you can walk downstairs to Soma and buy some of their milk-and-dark-chocolate-covered espresso beans from “gumball machines.”
Though many college students find it extremely difficult to eat healthy during the year, Laughing Planet provides a palatable place for students to find nourishing meals in an inspiring atmosphere.