Spinach Salad With Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ellen Kunes, editor in chief, loves spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette: spinach, roasted mushrooms, roasted onions, chickpeas, bacon, croutons, and balsamic vinaigrette.

Ellen’s salad has a lot going for it. Of our three, it has the least calories and fat, and the fiber-loaded chickpeas are filling without tons of calories. There are two glitches: oily vinaigrette and salty bacon. A few changes can make this salad healthier.

Balsamic vinaigrette
Try straight balsamic vinegar; the oiliness of the roasted veggies will balance the tartness of your simple dressing. Most people think vinaigrette is automatically low-fat, but the classic version is about 75 percent oil. You save: 210 calories, 28 g fat.

Croutons
Add a few more plain (read: not oily or cheesy) toasted croutons to keep the crunch factor up after cutting the bacon. You add: about 14 calories, 0.4 g fat.

Roasted mushrooms
Throw in extra mushrooms; their meaty quality will make up for cutting some of the bacon. You add: 5 calories, 0 g fat.

Bacon
Ask for a sprinkling of about 2 teaspoons; that’s all you need to get that distinctive flavor and crunch without a whole slew of calories. You save: 173 calories, 13 g fat.

Roasted onions
Order extra onions on the salad for a smoky flavor and minimal calories and fat; caramelized onions add a little sweetness too. You add: about 19 calories, 2 g fat.



*Nutritional analysis is based on typical meal-size salads at chain restaurants.

By Colleen Rush

Last Updated: July 23, 2008
Filed Under: Dining Out

Apple-Walnut Salad With Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Lisa Lombardi, executive deputy editor, loves apple-walnut salad with honey-balsamic vinaigrette: romaine lettuce, apples, walnuts, chicken, dried cranberries, goat-cheese crumbles, and honey-balsamic vinaigrette.

Lisa can’t resist this sweet, rich salad, which gets most of its calories from walnuts, dressing, and cheese. To cut back, use one of our tricks: Swap the fruit—using fresh instead of dried helps you feel satisfied with fewer calories. Here’s how to transform this lunch.

Goat-cheese crumbles
Order 1 tablespoon of cheese (that’s a third of the usual amount put on this salad), and you’ll still have plenty to go around—just toss it in well before you eat. You save: 76 calories, 7 g fat.

Honey-balsamic vinaigrette
Choose fat-free honey Dijon or a similar dressing. You save: 160 calories, 21 g fat.

Dried cranberries
Ask for grapes instead. Dried fruit can inflate a salad’s calories because it’s not as filling as the fresh kind. By adding fresh fruit to your salad, you’ll cut the calories and keep the sweetness. You save: 31 calories, 0 g fat.

Walnuts
Get just a few walnut halves (about 6) instead of the usual ladleful; you’ll end up with a third of the usual calories. The heart-healthy fat in nuts help you feel full, but a small bit will do the trick. You save: 154 calories, 14 g fat.



*Nutritional analysis is based on typical meal-size salads at chain restaurants.

By Colleen Rush

Last Updated: July 23, 2008
Filed Under: Dining Out

Cobb Salad With Blue Cheese

Colleen Sullivan, beauty and fashion editor, loves Cobb salad: mixed salad greens, chicken, tomatoes, avocado, bacon, blue-cheese crumbles, and blue-cheese dressing.

Colleen likes the contrasts in a classic Cobb—creamy, crunchy, tangy, and smoky—all in one meal. But it comes at a cost: The salad is superhigh in fat, calories, and sodium. Here’s how we lightened it and still kept the flavor.

Bacon
Order 1 ½ tablespoons (that’s two slices, or half the usual amount) and use your fork to spread it around your salad, so you get more of the savory, smoky flavor. You save: 115 calories, 9 g fat.

Avocado
Get 3 tablespoons (half the normal serving) and cut it into smaller chunks, so you get a creamy piece in every bite. You save: 67 calories, 6 g fat.

Blue-cheese crumbles
Skip them—you’ll still get great flavor from the dressing. “Most people don’t realize how high in saturated fat cheese is,” Blake says. “If your salad is covered in cheese, you’re not doing yourself any favors.” You save: 150 calories, 12 g fat.

Blue-cheese dressing
Use 2 tablespoons, which is half the usual amount of dressing, and you’ll still get the piquant taste of blue cheese throughout the salad. You save: 140 calories, 14 g fat.

Mixed salad greens
Ask for extra lettuce to bulk up the salad. You’ll be satisfied on a psychological level if the bowl looks full, Blake says. Plus, because lettuce has fiber and water, it fills you up without filling you out. You add: 8 calories, 0 g fat.



*Nutritional analysis is based on typical meal-size salads at chain restaurants.

By Colleen Rush

Last Updated: July 23, 2008
Filed Under: Dining Out

Is Your Salad Making You Fat?

“I’m having a salad.” It’s amazing how these four simple words can make you feel so virtuous. But whether you choose a vinaigrette that’s loaded with oil or add an overly generous sprinkling of honey-toasted nuts, it’s easy to pile on extra fat and calories without realizing it, says Joan Salge Blake, RD, clinical assistant professor at Boston University and author of Nutrition and You.

In fact, a restaurant salad with dressing can have as many as 1,000 calories. With Blake’s help, we’ve remade a few popular salads, which also happen to be favorites of three Health editors. Find out how to lighten up your greens too. (Please search these three below)

1. Cobb Salad With Blue Cheese
   
2. Spinach Salad With Balsamic Vinaigrette
   
3. Apple-Walnut Salad With Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette

By Colleen Rush

Last Updated: February 26, 2009
Filed Under: Dining Out

America’s Healthiest Restaurants: How We Ranked Them

To zero in on the healthiest restaurants, we separated national chains that offer sit-down service from those that have primarily counter or fast service and scored each group based on criteria from our expert panel.

Out of the 43 sit-down and 53 fast-service chains that we initially looked at, those that did not provide any nutritional information were automatically eliminated and not listed here (maybe next year, Cheesecake Factory!). The rest were judged on healthy food preparation; the availability of organic or hormone-free foods; whole grains on the menu; limited or no trans-fats in all dishes; low-sodium options; healthy beverages; and portion control; as well as how easily you, the customer, can access nutritional information—so you know exactly what you’re getting in your spaghetti and meatballs.

Editor’s Note: We apologize for not posting the entire list of restaurants that were initially considered. Because this piece originally appeared in Health magazine with space restraints, we chose to only publish those sit-down dining and fast-food establishments that made the top (and a few at the bottom) of our list. Thank you for your feedback, and we will keep this in mind when we compile our next America’s Healthiest ranking.

Next: (Please search)

• The Best Casual Dining Spots
• The Best Fast-Food Fare
• 6 Independents Leading the Way
• How to Eat Out Without Gaining a Pound
• And Now, the Not-So-Healthiest
• Back to: America’s Healthiest Restaurants

By Tracy Minkin

Last Updated: February 12, 2009
Filed Under: Dining Out

America’s Healthiest Restaurants: How to Eat Out Without Gaining a Pound

Steer clear of menu pitfalls with these tips from our experts Hope S. Warshaw and Cheryl Forberg.

Order it your way
You’re the customer, and most restaurants will do everything they can to keep you happy. So don’t be afraid to nicely ask to have that shrimp special grilled instead of fried.

Think tapas
Don’t feel compelled to order an entrée. You can put together a healthier meal out of two or three appetizers and side dishes.

Beware of the four Cs
Crunchy, cheesy, crispy, and creamy. Those words are code for fat-dense foods.

Say bye-bye to bread
There’s no need to test your willpower. Take just one slice, then ask the waiter to remove that breadbasket from the table.

Undress your salad
Dilute your favorite salad dressing with a squeeze of lemon or a few drops of vinegar.

Wrap it up
Get your doggy bag up front. Wrap up half before you dig in—out of sight, out of mind … and mouth.

By Brittani Tingle

Last Updated: July 16, 2008
Filed Under: Dining Out

New Web site and iPhone App Lets You Find Good Food Near You

by Amanda MacMillan

Looking for healthy-food options in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Just log on to GoodFoodNearYou.com (or use your iPhone or BlackBerry to access the free downloadable application) and enter your address or ZIP code: Up pops a list of restaurants and food vendors in your area, with suggestions for smart menu choices at each location.

This nifty tool is still in its infancy, and it’s certainly not perfect yet: So far most of the restaurants in their database are fast-food and casual-dining chains, so no matter where you are you’re likely to get a list that includes Dunkin’ Donuts, Burger King, and Ruby Tuesday. And while many of the “healthiest choices” are salads or low-fat entrées, some are a little odd: At 7-Eleven—the nearest establishment to my home in Brooklyn—the Web site suggests I try a 1/3-pound Biggest Bite hot dog with 45g fat, 480 calories, and 3g carbs. (Considering the limited selection of prepared foods offered at 7-Eleven, though, I guess that’s not too bad.)

The next version of GoodFoodNearYou, the company assures me, will include more mom-and-pop places and individual restaurants, and eventually they hope to roll out technology that allows any restaurant to add its own coordinates and nutritional information to the database. For now, it’s helpful at least to find out some of the stats for popular chains near you, since many of them aren’t yet sharing calorie counts on their menus—and it may help you decide on where to eat your next meal.

GoodFoodNearYou was created by Global Fitness Media, a Los Angeles–based company founded by fitness pioneer Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body by Jake Global and chairman of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness. Global Fitness Media is also launching an exercise-and-healthy-eating Web site complete with online personal trainers, called FitPlanet, this spring.

Related Links: (Please search)
America’s Healthiest Chain Restaurants
Top 10 Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants
How to Eat Out Without Gaining a Pound
More iPhone Apps for Healthy Living and Eating

Last Updated: March 6, 2009
Filed Under: Dining Out

Eat Chinese, Weigh Less

From Health magazine

Worried that Chinese food is bad for your diet? No need to be, says Lorraine Clissold, author of Why the Chinese Don’t Count Calories. She points to recent research showing that the Chinese consume 30 percent more calories than people in other countries and yet weigh 20 percent less. The secret? They choose nutrient-packed fare over foods full of sugar and fat. Here, a few more Chinese eating secrets:

Worship veggies
In China, vegetables are as prized as meat. Order more veggie dishes, and ask to have your meat served on vegetables instead of rice or noodles.

Use the “rule of five”
Pack your plate with five tastes—sweet, sour, pungent, salty, and bitter—not just one. The Chinese believe that helps control weight.

Think yin and yang
Yin foods (which are often steamed) provide a cooling effect. Yang foods (often grilled) warm you. The balance is thought to prevent weight gain.

Drink (hot) tea
Enjoy it at body temperature (warm but not superhot) to aid in fat digestion. But avoid iced tea; it can lead to obesity and lethargy.

Related Links: (Please search)
Low-Calorie Restaurant Meals Busted
America’s Healthiest Restaurants: How We Ranked Them
Lose Weight on Fast Food (Really!)

Last Updated: February 26, 2009
Filed Under: Dining Out

Is Calorie Counting Easy? America Wants Nutritional Information

From Health magazine

Nearly 8 in 10 Americans say they want fast-food and chain restaurants to list nutritional information more prominently—including calories. California became the first state to pass a menu-labeling law, and New York City has a similar law.

Do these laws help people say no to 500-calorie muffins, belly-busting burgers, and cake slices fit for four? The early research is mixed, but one study suggests that the new laws lead you to eat 50 fewer calories each time you dine out. That adds up to a weight loss of 3 pounds in a year. Here are the cities, counties, and states where the new laws are in force or pending.

• Seattle
• San Francisco
• Santa Clara County
• Chicago
• Philadelphia
• New York City
• Montgomery County
• Washington, D.C.

Last Updated: March 17, 2009
Filed Under: Nutrition and Eating Well