Pasta a la primavera - is this low calorie?

lavendy17

Does anybody know how I can estimate this dish? I went to a local spot so no nutrition info.
Name of dish: Whole wheat vermicelli (kind of spaghetti) with vegetables a la primavera.
It had about 2 cups cooked of pasta, that's easy.
Then about a cup of veggies (carrot, zucchini, broccoli), and some very light wine sauce. Most of which was so watery it stayed on the plate.

I tried to use similar entries and add 100 calories quick add for good measure. I still feel like I underestimated. I got to around 500 calories and it seems like main dishes are never this low.

Anybody have an idea how far off I am??

Thanks!

JoRocka

If I can find something exact- I check several (half a dozen or so entries) and get a range and take an average- then I just pick the one that's an average. I also try to pick entries that have actual units of measurements- or multiple confirmation. Doesn't make it perfectly accurate/precise- but it's a better option than nothing.

and as a general rule of thumb- nothing with pasta as a main dish is low calorie.

TheStephil

I'd estimate around 800-1000 calories. The ones I'm finding in the database are ranging from 400-500 per cup. The place probably used butter or oil to cook the veggies and probably had a form of oil/butter in the sauce.

snowflake954

I'd give it 500. When I lookd it up in the data base, it gave me 360 cal for 2 cups. I'd bump it up to 500 and don't worry about it--it's probably less. I live in Italy and make pasta everyday. 500cal for a plate of pasta usually means a very rich, heavy sauce. The pasta alone is 360 cal, dry weight for 100g, which is a big plate of pasta. I've given myself 800-1000 for a plate of pasta, but it was huge, and had alot of cheese in it. Hope this helps. Best.

smn76237

As JoRocka said, generally nothing with pasta as a main dish at a restaurant is low calorie.

2 cups of cooked whole wheat pasta is 400 calories minimum, and restaurants usually give you a hefty portion size (one portion of pasta is shockingly and disappointingly small). I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than 2 cups.
The vegetables were likely cooked in oil and/or butter.
The pasta also likely had some oil and/or butter added to it so it doesn't stick.
Pasta primavera usually has parmesan cheese on it too.

I'd round up to the 650-850 range.

lavendy17

Thanks!

Yeah I know pasta is hefty, that's why my 500 calorie estimate seemed wrong to me. Although it was indeed very light and not huge at all.
I decided to choose a similarly named entry that was 800 cal, just to be on the safe side.

snowflake954

As JoRocka said, generally nothing with pasta as a main dish at a restaurant is low calorie.

2 cups of cooked whole wheat pasta is 400 calories minimum, and restaurants usually give you a hefty portion size (one portion of pasta is shockingly and disappointingly small). I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than 2 cups.
The vegetables were likely cooked in oil and/or butter.
The pasta also likely had some oil and/or butter added to it so it doesn't stick.
Pasta primavera usually has parmesan cheese on it too.

I'd round up to the 650-850 range.

I don't know what pasta you're using, but 100g dry weight whole wheat pasta is 280 cal----checking my bag of pasta. That would be a generous 2 cups. The vegetables wouldn't be that much more, so that leaves how much butter, or cream they put on, plus some parmesean. It's hard for me to believe that the sauce would bring you to 650-850cal. It would have had to be drowning in sauce. Only the OP can tell us that.

smn76237

As JoRocka said, generally nothing with pasta as a main dish at a restaurant is low calorie.

2 cups of cooked whole wheat pasta is 400 calories minimum, and restaurants usually give you a hefty portion size (one portion of pasta is shockingly and disappointingly small). I wouldn't be surprised if there was more than 2 cups.
The vegetables were likely cooked in oil and/or butter.
The pasta also likely had some oil and/or butter added to it so it doesn't stick.
Pasta primavera usually has parmesan cheese on it too.

I'd round up to the 650-850 range.

I don't know what pasta you're using, but 100g dry weight whole wheat pasta is 280 cal----checking my bag of pasta. That would be a generous 2 cups. The vegetables wouldn't be that much more, so that leaves how much butter, or cream they put on, plus some parmesean. It's hard for me to believe that the sauce would bring you to 650-850cal. It would have had to be drowning in sauce. Only the OP can tell us that.

Well, she said it was whole wheat pasta. And I'm assuming she did not see the dry weight since she was at a restaurant, so she estimated 2 cups cooked (which is just a guess). 56 g of dry whole wheat pasta runs in the 180-210 calories range. And that's just one serving, which I guarantee you the majority of restaurants serving pasta entrees in the U.S. use more than 1 serving. Plus oil/butter to keep the pasta from sticking. Plus the white wine sauce. Plus cooking the veggies in oil/butter.

lavendy17

No Parmesan except I sprinkled a tiny bit.
The sauce was not heavy. I did feel some oiliness, not sure how much.

JoRocka

You can factor a 120 calories for each tablespoon of oil/fats/butters.

So- veggies- probably 150-200 and then sauce- another 150-200.
easily 300-400 calories of fat alone.

Most dishes at meals are easily 1000 calories- If I don't know what I ate exactly- I can figure at least 1000- and usually 1200.. unless I walk out hungry. Which- yes- it happens.

If I leave and I"m hungry still- usually portions are smaller- so I can figure it might be under 1000.

Whatever- call it at least 800 and you'll be square.

jamebb

I agree with the higher calorie estimates. Spend five minutes watching any food show where they take you behind the scenes and you''ll realize that they put use a lot more butter/oil (and salt for that matter) in dishes than you would use at home. Something that seems like it would be relatively low cal, usually winds up being higher.