Italian food
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WinoGelato wrote: »I live in an Italian neighborhood and have previously spent a month in Florence and a week or so in Rome. I don't find it particularly hard to find options on a menu to fit within my calorie goal, whether I'm losing or maintaining, or whether I'm eating at an authentic place or a more Americanized restaurant. We eat at Italian restaurants about once a week. In Italy, the pasta dish would be a very small part of the multi course meal, the Primi course. The bulk of the meal would come from Secondi - usually roast meat with vegetables.
My go to at my favorite neighborhood spot (Sicilian owner) is a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup, a side salad, and the Shrimp Fra Diavolo appetizer with a glass of Sangiovese and room for a scoop of gelato afterwards. Earlier I advised someone in another Italian thread who was considering pasta with pesto to go with that, adding either chicken or shrimp for extra protein, a side of veggies, and a salad with a glass of wine. I usually take it easy on the bread other than one place that has amazing garlic bread dripping with butter, at that place I skip the dessert.
So many options at Italian restaurants, I find it hard to believe that people can't find something that works for them with any calorie goal.
Depends on the restaurant though. But yeah, I guess there's always soup and side salad (groan).
I guess my issue is finding a satisfying option for 600ish calories in most places, lol.
I make lasagna at home and can't imagine that the ingredients I use or the way I prepare it is vastly different than a restaurant. I use ground beef, ricotta cheese, plenty of mozzarella and parmesan. Nothing altered to make it lower fat. It's not like there's hidden butter or oil like people are concerned about with common restaurant dishes. A decent sized serving of my lasagna is about 400 calories. Even if the restaurant prep method accounts for 50% more calories (and I don't think it would) then that would be 600 cals. I can't imagine saying that a serving of lasagna doesn't satisfy me.
Edited to Add - just checked the Olive Garden calorie count for their lasagna. Classic Lasagna 960 cals. Knowing how large their portion sizes are typically, that would be about two portions for me (maybe more). So 480. Leaves plenty of room for salad (140) and a breadstick (140).
There are other reduced calorie options on their menu too - just trying to come up with an example of a pasta dish that I think would be very filling and work within a reasonable calorie range.1 -
WinoGelato wrote: »I live in an Italian neighborhood and have previously spent a month in Florence and a week or so in Rome. I don't find it particularly hard to find options on a menu to fit within my calorie goal, whether I'm losing or maintaining, or whether I'm eating at an authentic place or a more Americanized restaurant. We eat at Italian restaurants about once a week. In Italy, the pasta dish would be a very small part of the multi course meal, the Primi course. The bulk of the meal would come from Secondi - usually roast meat with vegetables.
My go to at my favorite neighborhood spot (Sicilian owner) is a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup, a side salad, and the Shrimp Fra Diavolo appetizer with a glass of Sangiovese and room for a scoop of gelato afterwards. Earlier I advised someone in another Italian thread who was considering pasta with pesto to go with that, adding either chicken or shrimp for extra protein, a side of veggies, and a salad with a glass of wine. I usually take it easy on the bread other than one place that has amazing garlic bread dripping with butter, at that place I skip the dessert.
So many options at Italian restaurants, I find it hard to believe that people can't find something that works for them with any calorie goal.
Totally true. I have lived in Italy and they generally eat pasta at every meal but only a small portion. They eat a lot of courses over a long period of time. I also fail to see how people are complaining of finding nothing they can eat in Italian restaurants, especially if they're not having apps, bread and/or dessert.1 -
Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »I live in an Italian neighborhood and have previously spent a month in Florence and a week or so in Rome. I don't find it particularly hard to find options on a menu to fit within my calorie goal, whether I'm losing or maintaining, or whether I'm eating at an authentic place or a more Americanized restaurant. We eat at Italian restaurants about once a week. In Italy, the pasta dish would be a very small part of the multi course meal, the Primi course. The bulk of the meal would come from Secondi - usually roast meat with vegetables.
My go to at my favorite neighborhood spot (Sicilian owner) is a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup, a side salad, and the Shrimp Fra Diavolo appetizer with a glass of Sangiovese and room for a scoop of gelato afterwards. Earlier I advised someone in another Italian thread who was considering pasta with pesto to go with that, adding either chicken or shrimp for extra protein, a side of veggies, and a salad with a glass of wine. I usually take it easy on the bread other than one place that has amazing garlic bread dripping with butter, at that place I skip the dessert.
So many options at Italian restaurants, I find it hard to believe that people can't find something that works for them with any calorie goal.
Totally true. I have lived in Italy and they generally eat pasta at every meal but only a small portion. They eat a lot of courses over a long period of time. I also fail to see how people are complaining of finding nothing they can eat in Italian restaurants, especially if they're not having apps, bread and/or dessert.
When I was in Italy I ate gelato and drank wine every day. Pizza or pasta every day too. I figure if I can do that for a month and not exceed the top end of my maintenance range, then people should be able to manage the occasional Italian restaurant meal....0 -
I avoid Italian restaurants like the plague. Seriously, they don't have any healthy choice... everything's breaded and covered in buttery or oily sauce and has hundreds of calories!
Lots of Italian restaurants have decent options. There are a number of places where I live with reasonable portion sizes, lots of meat and veg options grilled or with light sauces, seafood (seafood stew is often reasonable calories) delicious greens (rapini, spinach) on the side with lemon and garlic, not over oiled, and pasta with light tomato-based sauces. Most of these will have reasonably low cal pizza options (very thin crust).
Sure, there are also lots of Italian places here that are more giant portions, cheesy sauces, too much oil, or fried ravioli. We have lots of Italian places of all types. But it's not my experience that Italian places are inherently higher cal. I went to local Italian places plenty when losing weight, and I just am careful as to which ones I go to. (Have also eaten in Italy and agree with others comments above, but not all American Italian places are vastly different.)0 -
All of this Italian food talk has me thinking about the apple and brie ravioli I have in the fridge and if I can make it fit in for dinner with a browned butter sauce.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »I avoid Italian restaurants like the plague. Seriously, they don't have any healthy choice... everything's breaded and covered in buttery or oily sauce and has hundreds of calories!
Lots of Italian restaurants have decent options. There are a number of places where I live with reasonable portion sizes, lots of meat and veg options grilled or with light sauces, seafood (seafood stew is often reasonable calories) delicious greens (rapini, spinach) on the side with lemon and garlic, not over oiled, and pasta with light tomato-based sauces. Most of these will have reasonably low cal pizza options (very thin crust).
Sure, there are also lots of Italian places here that are more giant portions, cheesy sauces, too much oil, or fried ravioli. We have lots of Italian places of all types. But it's not my experience that Italian places are inherently higher cal. I went to local Italian places plenty when losing weight, and I just am careful as to which ones I go to. (Have also eaten in Italy and agree with others comments above, but not all American Italian places are vastly different.)
I believe you, I'm just saying that here, 95% of the time, if I'm looking at an Italian menu, there won't be anything grilled at all. Entrees are typically breaded stuff sauteed with sauce, or pasta (also with sauces, of course).
So maybe I was wrong to generalize because obviously I'm not familiar with how it is in other places, but it's just not always that easy to find lower calorie options at Italian places is what I meant. Obviously you can always ask if they can cook you something plain though, I just hate having to do that (I realize that's my own fault though, I just don't like being put in the 'picky customer' spot).
ETA: there are always wine sauces available and I admit that I have no idea how many calories those are compared to butter, but it's not something I care for anyway.0 -
I avoid Italian restaurants like the plague. Seriously, they don't have any healthy choice... everything's breaded and covered in buttery or oily sauce and has hundreds of calories!
There are hundreds of thousands of places but I guarantee a true Italian high quality restaurant everything on the menu is ealthy and don't use buttery or oily sauce. Going to a true Italian restaurant owned by people from Italy and often with Italian chefs is like having a blissfull experience, experiencing foods from distinctive different regions of Italy, it's like tasting Italian Alps or Mediterranean see and never forget about it.
Anyone visiting NY i can suggest few places!0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »I live in an Italian neighborhood and have previously spent a month in Florence and a week or so in Rome. I don't find it particularly hard to find options on a menu to fit within my calorie goal, whether I'm losing or maintaining, or whether I'm eating at an authentic place or a more Americanized restaurant. We eat at Italian restaurants about once a week. In Italy, the pasta dish would be a very small part of the multi course meal, the Primi course. The bulk of the meal would come from Secondi - usually roast meat with vegetables.
My go to at my favorite neighborhood spot (Sicilian owner) is a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup, a side salad, and the Shrimp Fra Diavolo appetizer with a glass of Sangiovese and room for a scoop of gelato afterwards. Earlier I advised someone in another Italian thread who was considering pasta with pesto to go with that, adding either chicken or shrimp for extra protein, a side of veggies, and a salad with a glass of wine. I usually take it easy on the bread other than one place that has amazing garlic bread dripping with butter, at that place I skip the dessert.
So many options at Italian restaurants, I find it hard to believe that people can't find something that works for them with any calorie goal.
Depends on the restaurant though. But yeah, I guess there's always soup and side salad (groan).
I guess my issue is finding a satisfying option for 600ish calories in most places, lol.
I make lasagna at home and can't imagine that the ingredients I use or the way I prepare it is vastly different than a restaurant. I use ground beef, ricotta cheese, plenty of mozzarella and parmesan. Nothing altered to make it lower fat. It's not like there's hidden butter or oil like people are concerned about with common restaurant dishes. A decent sized serving of my lasagna is about 400 calories. Even if the restaurant prep method accounts for 50% more calories (and I don't think it would) then that would be 600 cals. I can't imagine saying that a serving of lasagna doesn't satisfy me.
Edited to Add - just checked the Olive Garden calorie count for their lasagna. Classic Lasagna 960 cals. Knowing how large their portion sizes are typically, that would be about two portions for me (maybe more). So 480. Leaves plenty of room for salad (140) and a breadstick (140).
There are other reduced calorie options on their menu too - just trying to come up with an example of a pasta dish that I think would be very filling and work within a reasonable calorie range.
In Italy, lasagna is typically prepared using Béchamel sauce that actually contains butter. Yes, it's a calorie bomb, but delicious
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lemurcat12 wrote: »I avoid Italian restaurants like the plague. Seriously, they don't have any healthy choice... everything's breaded and covered in buttery or oily sauce and has hundreds of calories!
Lots of Italian restaurants have decent options. There are a number of places where I live with reasonable portion sizes, lots of meat and veg options grilled or with light sauces, seafood (seafood stew is often reasonable calories) delicious greens (rapini, spinach) on the side with lemon and garlic, not over oiled, and pasta with light tomato-based sauces. Most of these will have reasonably low cal pizza options (very thin crust).
Sure, there are also lots of Italian places here that are more giant portions, cheesy sauces, too much oil, or fried ravioli. We have lots of Italian places of all types. But it's not my experience that Italian places are inherently higher cal. I went to local Italian places plenty when losing weight, and I just am careful as to which ones I go to. (Have also eaten in Italy and agree with others comments above, but not all American Italian places are vastly different.)
I believe you, I'm just saying that here, 95% of the time, if I'm looking at an Italian menu, there won't be anything grilled at all. Entrees are typically breaded stuff sauteed with sauce, or pasta (also with sauces, of course).
So maybe I was wrong to generalize because obviously I'm not familiar with how it is in other places, but it's just not always that easy to find lower calorie options at Italian places is what I meant. Obviously you can always ask if they can cook you something plain though, I just hate having to do that (I realize that's my own fault though, I just don't like being put in the 'picky customer' spot).
ETA: there are always wine sauces available and I admit that I have no idea how many calories those are compared to butter, but it's not something I care for anyway.
One of my favorite things to do is look at restaurant menus. If you want to share a link of a place that is common to you, I'd love to look and see what there is to choose from. Like I said above, even a half serving of Olive Garden lasagna would be 480 cals and I think would be filling and fit within a 600-800 cal lunch or dinner with the salad/breadstick option too.
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I think we're are talking about corporate Italian American cuisine here; because REAL Italian cuisine is not as calorie dense. But people actually think Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant.
Fettuccini Alfredo and chicken Parmesan are American dishes, for example, and are pretty unknown on "the boot."
Exactly. The main true Italian dish you can find at a restaurant if cooked with true italian ingredients is spaghetti al pomodoro, which is done with spaghetti gragnano pasta, a very high quality type of pasta from a specific area, italian cherry tomatoes (the top ones come from vesuvio area) basil, extra virgin olive oil. Simple as that. Three main ingredients which can make a simple dish a dream or just a nightmare if poor quality substitutes are used. I am hungry now!0 -
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WinoGelato wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »I avoid Italian restaurants like the plague. Seriously, they don't have any healthy choice... everything's breaded and covered in buttery or oily sauce and has hundreds of calories!
Lots of Italian restaurants have decent options. There are a number of places where I live with reasonable portion sizes, lots of meat and veg options grilled or with light sauces, seafood (seafood stew is often reasonable calories) delicious greens (rapini, spinach) on the side with lemon and garlic, not over oiled, and pasta with light tomato-based sauces. Most of these will have reasonably low cal pizza options (very thin crust).
Sure, there are also lots of Italian places here that are more giant portions, cheesy sauces, too much oil, or fried ravioli. We have lots of Italian places of all types. But it's not my experience that Italian places are inherently higher cal. I went to local Italian places plenty when losing weight, and I just am careful as to which ones I go to. (Have also eaten in Italy and agree with others comments above, but not all American Italian places are vastly different.)
I believe you, I'm just saying that here, 95% of the time, if I'm looking at an Italian menu, there won't be anything grilled at all. Entrees are typically breaded stuff sauteed with sauce, or pasta (also with sauces, of course).
So maybe I was wrong to generalize because obviously I'm not familiar with how it is in other places, but it's just not always that easy to find lower calorie options at Italian places is what I meant. Obviously you can always ask if they can cook you something plain though, I just hate having to do that (I realize that's my own fault though, I just don't like being put in the 'picky customer' spot).
ETA: there are always wine sauces available and I admit that I have no idea how many calories those are compared to butter, but it's not something I care for anyway.
One of my favorite things to do is look at restaurant menus. If you want to share a link of a place that is common to you, I'd love to look and see what there is to choose from. Like I said above, even a half serving of Olive Garden lasagna would be 480 cals and I think would be filling and fit within a 600-800 cal lunch or dinner with the salad/breadstick option too.
I don't know. A filling portion of my lasagna is about 700 calories. I don't know Olive Garden's lasagna, but the one from Macaroni Grill was 800ish calories and it was just right for me.
I guess it's tough when you're like me and need volume in order not to be hungry 2 hours later - and why I usually go with grilled meat with a lot of veggies, something I've just never seen offered in an Italian restaurant here.
But yeah now I'm craving Italian food!0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »I live in an Italian neighborhood and have previously spent a month in Florence and a week or so in Rome. I don't find it particularly hard to find options on a menu to fit within my calorie goal, whether I'm losing or maintaining, or whether I'm eating at an authentic place or a more Americanized restaurant. We eat at Italian restaurants about once a week. In Italy, the pasta dish would be a very small part of the multi course meal, the Primi course. The bulk of the meal would come from Secondi - usually roast meat with vegetables.
My go to at my favorite neighborhood spot (Sicilian owner) is a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup, a side salad, and the Shrimp Fra Diavolo appetizer with a glass of Sangiovese and room for a scoop of gelato afterwards. Earlier I advised someone in another Italian thread who was considering pasta with pesto to go with that, adding either chicken or shrimp for extra protein, a side of veggies, and a salad with a glass of wine. I usually take it easy on the bread other than one place that has amazing garlic bread dripping with butter, at that place I skip the dessert.
So many options at Italian restaurants, I find it hard to believe that people can't find something that works for them with any calorie goal.
Totally true. I have lived in Italy and they generally eat pasta at every meal but only a small portion. They eat a lot of courses over a long period of time. I also fail to see how people are complaining of finding nothing they can eat in Italian restaurants, especially if they're not having apps, bread and/or dessert.
When I was in Italy I ate gelato and drank wine every day. Pizza or pasta every day too. I figure if I can do that for a month and not exceed the top end of my maintenance range, then people should be able to manage the occasional Italian restaurant meal....
That was one of my favorite things about Italy. Copious amounts of wine with lunch and dinner but everyone was slim and did a full day's work!0
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