Eat out, choose right

We all like to eat out and experiment with different types of food. But it’s important to know the cuisine in order to be able to eat well and, importantly, eat healthy. Kavita Devgan offers a brief guide to navigating four cuisines

ITALIAN
Here the basics are usually healthy but the offenders are surplus oil, cream, and butter (lavishly used in most dishes).

What to pick
Southern Italian cuisine traditionally follows a Mediterranean diet, rich in grains, fruits and vegetables, with very little meat, and olive oil instead of butter. Northern Italian cuisine, on the other hand, is generous with the beef, butter, and cream. Start with plain Italian bread rather than buttered garlic bread. Salads can be a good starter and filler but ask for the dressing and vinegar on the side. An all-vegetable antipasto could be an insalata (tomato-mozzarella-basil salad), panzanella (in its basic form a sliced bread and tomato salad). For a healthy entrée, try fish in cartoccio (‘in a packet’) — baked or grilled wrapped in ovenproof paper. If you like pasta, skip cheese-filled ones in favour of those with red clam sauce or meat sauce. Classic pasta with marinara sauce (a red sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs such as basil, and onion) is a lean choice. And if you want to have a heavier entrée like lasagne then have only half of it. At the end of the meal, skip the dessert, resist the cannoli or cream-filled pastry and have a decaf cappuccino, made with low fat milk, or go for fresh fruit.
 

MORE TIPS

BE PREPARED: If familiar with the place, decide what you’re going to order before you get to the restaurant, where the sights and smells can blow the best of intentions. 

BE FIRST TO ORDER: Order before anyone else to avoid letting others’ choices influence you. 

SPEAK UP: Don’t feel embarrassed about making special requests (could you leave off the cheese topping; please skip the fries…).

PORTION SIZE: Learn to share among friends. And don’t hesitate about getting a doggie bag packed.

SKIP SOME. Avoid having either appetisers or desserts. Or just have a soup and salad.

CHINESE
Traditional Chinese cooking is light and healthy, but ‘Indian’ Chinese is high on sodium and fat and portions often tend to be large.

What to pick
Oyster, black bean, and soy sauces are full of sodium, and monosodium glutamate. Don’t hesitate to ask the chef about the ingredients. Deep fat frying is very common, especially for appetisers, so ask for steamed wontons and spring rolls. Similarly, opt for steamed white rice or plain noodles instead of the fried versions (steamed Chinese brown rice is tasty and filling). ‘Crispy’ usually indicates deep-fried, as is most of the meat in any dish labelled ‘sweet and sour’. Ask for roasted or grilled meat with the sweet and sour sauce on the side and just drizzle some on the top.

Vegetable-based dishes can be very tasty. Start out with a clear soup to fill you up , and round off with Chinese tea.

MEXICAN
Enchiladas (tortillas fried in oil) and tacos (deep-fried tortillas), chimichangas, chile rellenos, tostadas and flautas, all are rich in fat. Cheese and sour cream toppings too add extra fat and calories.

What to pick
Take your cue from the names on the menu. Foods that are prepared ‘asada’ are grilled, which is a non-fat cooking process. ‘Fajitas’ are made up of grilled meat or chicken. Use salsa on your main course instead of sour cream and cheese as the mixture of tomatoes, onion, chillies and herbs is virtually fat-free (and bursting with vitamins A and C). Watch the portion size. Choose dessert carefully; go for the fruit platter over sopapillas (deep-fried sweet pastries) or fried ice cream.

GREEK
This is a relatively healthy cuisine with a lot of grains, fruits and vegetables, olive oil, and very little meat. Sauces are based on wine, stock, tomato, and yoghurt, rather than milk or cream. Lentils, beans and vegetables are commonly used. But here’s what you need to watch out for.

What to pick
The olives and feta cheese in a classic Greek salad are very high in sodium, so go easy. You can even ask to have the feta rinsed before it is served. Be wary of taramasalata, a calorie- rich, cream-based dip. Instead, have pita bread spread with a yoghurt-based dip like tzatziki, made with yoghurt, garlic, and cucumber. Bread sticks dipped into hummus (sesame paste and chickpeas) or baba ghanoush (eggplant and olive oil) are other good options. For soup, skip the better-known avgolemono soup and go for torato, which has more fibre and less cholesterol. Pass up moussaka and pastitsio casseroles (beef, eggs and cheese) and opt for grilled or broiled meat, poultry, or seafood. Other good options are fish in plaki sauce, souvlaki, and dolmas. These are all steamed or baked dishes.

Kavita Devgan is a Delhi-based nutritionist & writer