Tips for Ordering

You can make healthy choices and ask for substitutions when you eat out – even at fast-food restaurants. Here are some more tips to help you order wisely.

■ Ask questions. Be assertive. Explain to the waiter or waitress what you need.

■ Choose clear soups. At the salad bar, stay away from toppings, dressings, and salads made with mayonnaise.

■ Order salad dressings and sauces on the side and use only a little of them.

■ Consider ordering an appetizer for the main course or sharing a main dish. Ask for lunch portions at dinner. Or have the waiter put half of your meal in a to go box.

■ Look for foods that are broiled, grilled, roasted, poached, or steamed.

■ Ask for substitutions for high-fat foods like fried potatoes, or ask that ingredients you don’t want, like cheese, be left out.

■ If you want dessert, consider sharing it. Or order fresh fruit, angel food cake, fruit ice, or nonfat frozen yogurt.

ITALIAN

Italian food cooked with just a little olive oil can be healthy if you avoid lots of meat, cheese and cream sauces.

Good Choices:

• Minestrone soup without cheese

• Pasta with a tomato-based sauce, not a cream sauce

• Cioppino

• Chicken cacciatore

• Ravioli or tortellini in tomato sauce, with no butter or cheese

• Pizza with vegetable toppings and half the cheese

• Potato gnocchi in tomato sauce

• Baked polenta made without cheese or butter

ASIAN

Asian food can be low in fat and cholesterol, as long as you avoid stir-fried, breaded, and deep-fried foods.

Good Choices:

• Hot and sour or miso soup

• Steamed vegetable pot-stickers

• Chicken, fish, or lean meat cooked in broth or steamed with vegetables (no nuts)

• Sushi or sashimi

• Yakitori

• Steamed rice or noodle dishes

• Thai seafood stew

Asian food can be high in salt and monosodium glutamate (MSG). Ask about reduced-sodium dishes and MSG free dishes.

MIDDLE EASTERN AND INDIAN

Most Middle Eastern food is healthy, made from ingredients such as rice and yogurt. Here are some good choices:

Good Choices:

• Bean or lentil dishes

• Stuffed grape leaves

• Tandoori chicken

• Grilled leg of lamb

• Chicken, lamb, or lean beef kabobs

• Curries made without coconut milk

• Pita bread

• Chapati (roti)

MEXICAN

Mexican cooking can be healthy if you avoid fried or refried food, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. Here are some good choices:

Good Choices:

• Chicken enchilada or tostada*

• Arroz con pollo

• Ceviche (marinated raw fish)

• Baked cornmeal tamale*

• Burrito with black beans and chicken*

• Black beans and rice*

• Soft tacos*

• Salsa with corn tortillas, not chips

* Order these dishes without guacamole, sour cream, refried beans, cheese, and chips. They’re all high in fat.

AMERICAN

Many American restaurants now offer low-fat, low-cholesterol alternatives to high-fat fast food.

Good Choices:

• Broiled single hamburger or grilled chicken breast on a bun with mustard instead of sauce

• Turkey or lean ham sandwich with no cheese or mayonnaise

• Broiled, baked, or grilled fish, chicken, seafood, or lean meat with no breading or sauce

• Salad bar, with fresh vegetables, a little oil and vinegar dressing, and no bacon bits or croutons

• Baked potato with herbs instead of butter or sour cream

HEALTHIER EATING IN SOUTH LOUISIANA

• Boiled seafood (crabs, crawfish, shrimp)

• Creole and jambalaya dishes

• Fat-free roux

• Grilled or broiled seafood (watch butter content)

• White or brown rice

• Turkey sausage

• Avoid fried foods, augratin dishes

• Ask for sauces, gravies, dressings on the side

• Use fat-free roux in gumbos and stews

Sources: Controlling Your Cholesterol Publication; 2005 HERC Publishing and LSU AgCenter, www.lsuagcenter.com

Prepared and Made Available By: Mandy G. Armentor, MS, RD, LDN, Assoc. Extension Agent (FCS-Nutrition), Vermilion Parish