How to of the Day: How to Eat Healthily at an Italian Restaurant

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How to Eat Healthily at an Italian Restaurant Aug 7th 2012, 00:00 Italian restaurants offer a delicious variety of often rich and calorie-laden dishes. While tasty, eating Italian when out isn't always a healthy option or a good dieter's choice because the calories can soon add up by way of cream sauces, cheese fillings and rich toppings. Yet, don't despair––it is possible to eat healthily at Italian restaurants. Edit Steps Bruschetta is often a healthier choice over garlic bread. Skip the bread. Bread is an important part of most Italian meals but it can also be a trap for the unwary. Garlic bread and garlic breadsticks tend to be saturated with butter or oil and are high in calories. In lesser quality restaurants, the fat used may also contain trans-fats. Also, beware bread knots––they look little but they're harboring a lot of oil or butter.[1] As for cheesy breads, if you're going to have pizza, skip this sort of doubling up altogether! Keep fatty bread consumption to a minimum. If you can't skip the bread, some good alternatives include: Plain Italian bread, unbuttered Plain Italian bread accompanied by olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping (go easy on the oil dipping though) Bruschetta as an appetizer (tomato, fresh basil, garlic and olive oil atop pieces of lightly toasted bread)––just be careful of pesto versions which can have a high calorie content due to both the fat used and nut content. Ask if the restaurant has grissini, which are dry cracker-like sticks. A few of these to crunch at the start of the meal can be a healthy option. Minestrone soup makes a healthier choice than fried items. Choose your appetizers carefully. While delicious, appetizers can definitely increase the meal's overall calories. One healthy appetizer choice is marinated vegetables on the antipasto plate. These are usually served as part of a spread of cheeses and cured meats, but the vegetables are your healthiest bet (and avoid the salami slices, which tend to be fatty and processed). If there is likely to be cheese on the platter, ask for feta cheese, as it's a healthier option. Have a bowl of soup as an appetizer. Filling up on a bowl of vegetable-laden minestrone is a good choice. Be wary of anything fried (frito in Italian). A common appetizer is fried mozzarella sticks or fried cheese cubes, which isn't very healthy in terms of calories and fat content. Another typical choice are fried calamari rings but these can add 800 calories to your meal, so think carefully about including them![1] Always prefer the dishes that have been grilled, steamed or baked. Salad is often a healthier option. Enjoy Italian salads (insalata). Salads can be a great choice in an Italian restaurant. Just be sure to ask what dressings are added and to avoid any that seem too rich; in some restaurants you might be able to get a salad without dressing or choose an alternative dressing. Look for green/green/vegetable salad, bean salad and pasta salad choices. Enjoy a plain Caesar salad. Tell your server to hold the croutons (cooked in fat), dressing and extra grated cheese. Cold vegetable salads can be a delicious choice, such as green bean and potato salad drizzled with a little olive oil. When choosing pasta salad, check the dressing content in order to avoid too much fat or cheese. Cheese is tasty but not too much. Ask for half the cheese. Cheese tends to be found in a range of Italian dishes and it can seem hard to avoid it. The trick is to ask for dishes that only have cheese added to them after they're made, in which case, you can ask the waiter to leave the cheese off altogether or to halve the usual amount. In fact, asking for half the normal sprinkling of cheese on pizzas is a good way to still have a taste of the cheese without the pizza drowning in cheese. Dishes that you'll need to sidestep include lasagna, ravioli, cannelloni, chicken or eggplant Parmesan/Parmigiana and other baked pasta dishes because these all have the cheese included as part of the cooking process and it cannot be extracted. Alternatively, order only a small portion (appetizer size) and ask for lots of salad or steamed vegetables to accompany the dish. Also avoid stuffed pasta, as it is usually accompanied by cheese of some sort. Again, an appetizer portion might be the way to go if you loved stuffed pasta, accompanied by plenty of salad or steamed vegetables. Be careful with risotto meals. While it might seem like a healthier choice, it won't be if it's really cheesy. Ask the waiter what's in it before ordering. Tomato based sauces are often a healthy choice. Select pasta sauces that don't contain cream. Sauces to prefer include plainer tomato sauce (for example, pomodoro/marinara), meat sauce that doesn't include cream or cheese, clam sauce, and pasta tossed in fresh herbs/garlic and olive oil. The sauces to avoid include any that refer to Alfredo (cream, butter and Parmesan cheese) and Carbonara. In terms of pasta, if you can, ask for wholegrain pasta choices. If you're worrying about your carbohydrate intake, perhaps avoid pasta altogether and choose a meat and vegetable entree instead. Look for healthier pizza toppings and eat less of the slices. Find the healthier pizza choices if you're choosing pizza for the meal. Toppings can make all the difference between a healthy pizza and a fattening one. For example, pepperoni and sausage toppings are high in fats and nitrates, making for a rather unhealthy choice.[1] Indeed, most "meat lover" style pizzas are a magnet for processed meats that aren't very healthy for you, so avoid them––if you can, select chicken or ham toppings. And cheese is a killer on pizzas––always ask for less cheese or skimmed cheese choices––this is the single best thing you can do reduce the pizza fat and calorie whammy of the pizza.[2] Many places will happily oblige a request to lower the cheese amount but they need to know that this is your preference. Another alternative is to ask for no cheese––it may seem peculiar at first but it can work really well with many toppings and has long been the choice of those unable to consume dairy products. Vegetable toppings are the healthiest choice of all.[2] If the menu has "gourmet pizzas", these might be a better choice as it's likely that the restaurant prides itself on using the finest ingredients on top and it's also probable that making changing to the toppings won't be a problem. Gourmet pizzas also tend to be smaller in size than regular pizzas. Look for rosemary and garlic pizza bread as an alternative to cheesy pizzas. It usually consists of a pizza dough base topped with a little olive oil, some rosemary and garlic. It can be salty though and the dough is still high in calories, so choose a small version. Plain cheese pizza isn't a good choice––it's still likely to be half your day's quota of saturated fat, doesn't deliver many needed nutrients and adds up in calories.[2] Avoid thick crust and cheese filled/stuffed crust pizzas––these have many more calories than their thin crust counterparts. Don't super-size the pizza, ever. It's just more empty calories. A plate of beans and vegetables is one delicious option. When it comes to entrees (main course dishes), the same rules apply––be wary of creamy, cheesy, fried versions. Specify that chicken, fish, or veal be grilled or broiled instead of fried or sauteed. Ask to skip any breading or stuffing as well, and order vegetables on the side instead of pasta, fries or any form of fried/cheesy potatoes. Look for fruit or sorbet desserts, or share with someone else. If you're going to have dessert (dolce), then choose a light one. Fruit sorbet and biscotti are healthy options, while sharing dessert with someone else makes richer choices more acceptable. For lovers of tiramisu (filled with rich cream and Mascarpone cheese), expect a normal size portion to be about 300-400 calories.[1] If there is a fresh fruit option, this might be the best way to end the meal. Portion size determines your yes or no! In all cases, be astute as to the portion size. If it is large, don't try to eat it all––eat only half and take the other half home for another meal some other day. If you're already aware that a restaurant does large servings, consider asking for a half serve or order the same single dish between two and ask for an extra plate. You are in complete control of how much you choose to eat off the plate, so be conscious of the size and stop when you're full rather than when the plate is clean. Portion control is essential when it comes to pizza. Just because a whole pizza can be ordered per person doesn't justify one single person eating it all at one sitting. Try eating one to two slices with a lot of side salad and either share the rest or take it home with you.[3] Don't scoff the food down. Follow the way of the Italian and savor your food, eating it slowly and mindfully. By eating it slowly and enjoying each morsel, you give your stomach time to register that you're having a great meal and you won't be so tempted to keep ordering more food. Creamy sauces are delicious but they're also calorie-laden. Be aware of the main "calorie culprits" in Italian food, so that you can make informed choices from the menu. In particular, watch out for: Creamy sauces––the fat content in these adds a lot of calories to your meal. Also, if you're following a low-fat diet, the creamy sauce will blow your daily allowance. Oily and buttery foods––anything soaked in oil or smothered in butter will be a taste treat but it'll also hit your waistline. Try to avoid ordering too many items likely to be laden in fats but don't deprive yourself completely as the taste factor matters too. And be careful about how much olive oil you enjoy––while it's a healthier oil overall, bread soaks it up like a sponge, which means you can easily add hundreds of calories to your meal without realizing. Cheesy anything––good Italian meals won't be drowning in cheese but many interpretations of Italian food tend to overdo the addition of cheese, probably because customers demand this. Unfortunately, the more cheese, the more calorie dense the meal. It's a good idea to always ask for less cheese rather than hope the dish will arrive without too much. Edit Video Edit Tips Don't neglect to include what you're drinking as part of your calorie intake. Sodas are an unhealthy choice that add calories for no benefit. Choose water (still or sparkling/mineral - acqua minerale), small amounts of wine (vino), and tea or coffee at the end of the meal instead. Some restaurants have flavored water, such as lemon or orange water, which can be very refreshing and tasty. Sometimes you may want to indulge in the calorie-laden joys of Italian food. In order to do this, schedule the splurge into your week's dietary needs and make up for it by eating healthily after the restaurant meal. And eat all rich food in moderation, keeping to small portions. A little goes a very long way when you learn to appreciate rich food in small amounts. Fats in Italian restaurant foods tend to come mainly from cheese, olive oil, butter, eggs, salad dressings, cream and some introduced baked goods or processed foods not made on the restaurant premises. Some Italian restaurants may already include healthy/smart choices on the menu. Look for these just in case. Even without this, it can't hurt to ask the waitstaff for their suggestions. This guide applies to restaurants outside of Italy––eating at Italian restaurants in Italy is a whole other experience, which you must try if you have the chance! Edit Things You'll Need Knowledge of Italian menu items Edit Related wikiHows How to Eat Healthily at a Chinese Restaurant How to Eat Healthy How to Take Your Dieting Friend out to Lunch How to Eat Healthy at a Fast Food Restaurant How to Eat Healthy When Eating Out Edit Sources and Citations Original inspiration for article from Howcast, (with permission), http://www.howcast.com/videos/180484-How-To-Order-in-an-Italian-Restaurant-Without-Blowing-Your-Diet. 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