How to Choose Healthy Meals at Italian Restaurants

Eating at an Italian restaurant can be a minefield for anyone trying to watch their calories or eat healthy food. Many of the items on the menu are rich foods, either smothered in creamy sauce or gooey cheese, and high in fat, carbs, sodium, and calories.

To make matters worse, the serving sizes are often huge, and many restaurants offer extas like unlimited bread sticks before your meal (which can be hard to resist).

However, all of this is not a reason to avoid ever eating at an Italian restaurant again. You just need to be aware of the serious offenders to know which items to stay away from, as well as the healthier options.

In general, it's best to avoid anything fried, covered in creamy sauces, or laden with cheese.

Items that are grilled or steamed are typically the healthiest options, as they are lower in fat and calories than similar items that are sauteed or fried.

Try to avoid snacking on breadsticks or bread before your meal. Instead, have a salad with a light dressing or one of the healthier appetizers suggested below.

If you order pasta, choose one served with a tomato sauce rather than a cream or meat sauce. Beware of pasta portion sizes, which are typically huge. It's usually a safer option to go with a meat and vegetable entrée rather than an entrée based around a huge portion of pasta.

If you're craving pizza, stay away from deep dish pizza or pizza with thick or stuffed crusts. You'll also want to avoid meat toppings like pepperoni, sausage and bacon, which are all high in saturated fats, calories and contain nitrates. Instead, choose pizza with a thin crust and lots of veggie toppings and request 1/2 the cheese, if you're really trying to be good.

Instead of eating a whole pizza, just have one or two slices with some salad or veggies on the side. You can either share the pizza with someone else or save the rest for lunch or dinner the next day.

If possible, it's a good idea to plan ahead by checking the restaurant's menu ahead of time. Most restaurants now post their menus online, so it's usually possible to plan exactly what you're going to order before you even arrive.

Here are some healthy menu options you may find at your favourite Italian restaurant:

Appetizers:

• Salad or "Insalata" - Look for salads with a variety of fresh vegetables, and order with an oil and vinegar or balsamic dressing. Avoid fatty extras like croutons, bacon bits, cheese and creamy dressings.
• Soup - Choose broth based soups like minestrone over creamy soups.
• Steamed mussels - low in fat and containing important nutrients, mussels are a healthy choice for either an appetizer or a meal.
• Grilled calamari - a much healthier option than calamari that has been covered in batter and deep-fried.
• Bruschetta - If you must have bread with your meal, bruschetta is a healthier option than bread sticks or garlic bread. It usually contains less fat, and you get the vitamins and antioxidants from the tomato topping.

• Skip the empty calories from beverages and order water instead of soda or alcohol
• If you think you might be tempted by the breadsticks before your meal, have a light snack before leaving for the restaurant. Something with a bit of protein in it will help you from devouring everything in sight while you wait for your meal.

Entrees:

• Chicken Piccata
• Chicken Marsala
• Grilled Fish
• Grilled Chicken Breast

For all of these, the healthiest side dishes are grilled or roasted vegetables or a salad.

If you really want some pasta, spaghetti with tomato sauce is your best choice. Marinara sauce and pomodoro sauce are good options, and you can choose whole wheat pasta, if it's available. Just watch the portion size! Most Italian restaurants serve obscenely large pasta serving sizes which are often enough for several meals.

Dessert:

The healthiest option is to skip dessert altogether, but some dessert options are definitely less deadly than others. The healthiest choices on the menu usually are:

• Fruit sorbet
• Fresh berries
• Biscotti

While in theory it is quite possible to eat a very healthy meal at an Italian restaurant, in reality we all have our weaknesses. By being mindful of what the healthy options are, you may want to make a conscious decision to spurge on one part of your meal, while making healthier choices for the rest of your meal. For example, if tiramisu is your favourite dessert of all time, you may decide it's worth skipping the pasta and breadsticks to be able to indulge in dessert.

The trick is to just pick one indulgence to keep the meal as healthy as possible, and remember that often a small amount can be enough to satisfy your craving.