Hello,
I have trouble finding Zone-friendly meals to order when I'm in Italian restaurants. I don't eat fish, and most of the vegetarian entrees are pasta. The soups are usally made from chicken/beef stock. Ordering a salad for my entree doesn't usually fill me up. Does anyone have any suggestions for what to order in these cases? Thanks for your help!

There is an abundance of zone-favorable ingredients in Italian restaurants (with the exception of pasta, obviously).

In many of the restaurants around here, you can get steaks or chix breasts that are grilled with Italian seasoning. You can request veggies instead of pasta, or sometimes they have some entrees that are made that way. A glass of red wine can be one of your carb blocks, as well.

Not sure, you didn't say you were vegetarian, but I am wondering if you are?

Ashley,

A few good Zone balanced veggies items are a veggie antipasto plate with a side of extra cheese to balance if needed, Eggplant Parmigiana, Insalata Caprese (tomato, mozzarella, basil and olive oil), a hearty minsetrone, or a bean soup (if you're willing to accept possibly eating the non-veggie broth; or you can always ask to hear teh soup ingredients). Balance the soups with a side order of mozzarella and a dash of olive oil in the soup. I've also had a good white bean type of hummus with crudites in an Italian restaurant. You can always order any of the meal salads and substitute some cheeses for the meat.

Oops-- I forget to say that I am a vegetarian. I'm not wiling to eat non-veggie broth, but the eggplant parm and insalata caprese are good ideas, although I haven't really been satisfied when I've ordered the insalata caprese as my meal. I'll keep looking. Thanks to both of you for your suggestions!

If you're heading to a restaurant you are familiar with take a look at the menu in advance and review it with a food blocks list. Try to figure out what may work before you go. If you're heading somewhere new and taking a chance...how about the idea of drinking a protein shake before you head in. While a liquid meal is not a good choice, if you start with that it could cover you w/a fat free protein and then order some hot and/or cold vegies or soup for your carb & fat. At least that way if you get in there you can focus on some choices to balance the pro shake. A caprese salad is pretty well balanced, a bit high in fat. HOpe that helps.

There is already some good, if limited, advice on Zone options at an Italian restaurant - however - the best advice may be just NOT GO THERE - REALLY.

Whenever I do go to one on a rare occaision I always have the same things because there are basically very few options - so - that is the reality you have to get used to, eating mostly the exact same thing every time.

I always eat : Caesar salad with salmon [ not all will offer the salmon option but most do ] and either the Insalata Caprese or Ministrone Soup or some of both. There's really very little typically beyond those things !

As far as I'm concerned the only bright spot at an Italian restaurant is that there is always lots and lots of Olive Oil around !

The very nature of Italian restaurants - the nature of the foods offered - is a baccanalia of depth charges to a zone eating plan.

Right out of the gate the first thing they do is drop a way too big load of pure processed carb bread down accompanyed by a pound of butter.

Most everything is fried and accompanied by 2 or 3 pounds of more pure processed carbs.

Then add they always present "eat all you want" offers - because pasta is about as cheap to serve as it gets for a restaurant - and you have a "zone nightmare" brewing.

As they say : "Why go there ? "

You are going to have to tip toe through a minefield of atrocious dinner opttions only to arrive at thimble full of acceptable choices - does that sound like a "fun night out" ?

I have been following the Zone since almost the begining and because of that my health is excellent in every way. One day the big light bulb went off in my head as I was about to cave in and go to the Italian restaurant - where everyone wanted to go for the night - and I simply said " I'm not going there because I don't eat anything Italian and I'm tired of eating the same things that are left over" I owed my health to my diet and why should I jeaprodize that, or, pick from the remains ?

Good grief - it's not as if there aren't enough food establishments swarming you along every road that hints of a commercial district that offer everything and anything you can think of !

If there's an Olive Garden around the rest of "restaurant generica" won't be more than a few steps away.

And with any luck that will include an Uno's which has a simply wonderfull menu of good choices - including the obligatory Italian offerings which are just as well prepared as anything at the Macaroni Grill or Olive Garden.

Yeah, I'd agree with E. Wally. As much as I always adored Italian restaurants, I'd advice you and myself to stay out of them. I used to make those Italian eggplant dishes, but you have to cook the eggplant well which in this case involves frying and how eggplant in a frying pan sucks in oil like a sponge.
Only other option is to go to a very fancy Italian restaurant with a real chef. What I've done in such restaurants is explain my diet to the waitress/chef and have him come up with a surprise. They actually love doing this because it breaks their routine and lets them get creative. Best to call to see if this is an option first.

Uno's [ Chicago Grill and Pizzeriz] has some excellent "Italian" if they are in your area and they were recently awarded first place by Health Magazine for a menu with nutritious options among "chain" restaruants.

Link to their menu :

http://www.unos.com/


Additionally - a friend who was cooking at a local Macaroni Gril left and is now at the Uno's. He told me that the quality of the ingredients Uno's uses almost completely "across the board" is superior to those at Macaroni Grill and because of this and other factors their food in general and Italian in particular was of better and fresher ingredieants.


link to article in Health Magazine[ which includes awards for nutritional excellence to other "chains" ]

http://eating.health.com/2008/04/23...o-eat-out/