Eating Italian - most popular side dishes in restaurants

Staple foods such as pasta, lasagna and pizza have become common edible food for good reason.
"I think Italian food is a happy food --
Amy Brandwin, executive chef at Casa Nonna, said: "It's available and tastes a lot, but it's not going to be too serious . ".
This also explains why Italian restaurants are so popular.
Just opened a menu full of cheese
Italian flavor
Fares in the United States mean instant happiness.
However, the part of the restaurant that has repeatedly indulged in some of the world's most delicious foods can cause serious damage to your weight --loss goals.
But don't mourn your meatballs: you can still dine regularly at Italian restaurants if you have the right information.
According to Melissa Joy Dobbins, a spokeswoman for the School of Nutrition and diet, authentic Italian cuisine can be a healthy choice, with fresh ingredients typical of a Mediterranean diet.
"The problem is American Italian dishes and excessive portions.
"In this country, you can go to almost any Italian restaurant and you will see a lot of extras at most family tables in Naples or Florence.
Like a bread basket without a bottom.
Or a bunch of cheese.
Cover pasta with meat in front of a person, not in the middle of a table for six people.
If you want to enjoy the healthiest and most enjoyable meal in an Italian restaurant, just like a real Italian.
Try the following tips from appetizers to desserts.
Of course: bread and appetizers have protein bread. The best decision is to put the bread basket on the table.
However, if this is at risk of causing riots, eat at least some appetizers.
"Eat a small piece of cheese bread, or charcuterie, it will make you more satisfied and won't let you go and get another piece," Dobbins said . ".
Watch out for that bread,!
Olive oil is not only a source of healthy single saturated fat, but a Cornell University study found that diners who use olive oil as a bread condiment eat 23% less bread than diners who use butter.
Don't soak all the bread;
One bubble is enough. Don’t O. D.
On luncheon meat, a common meat appetizer, ismisto salumi or Italian barbecue, including dry meat such as a familiar ham, as well as speck, mortadella and bresaola
While the meat is rich in fat and protein and contains about 70 to 90 calories per ounce, they are usually very thin slices.
"A thin piece of sandwich can be satisfactory because it tastes rich, but the point is not to make a sandwich with it," Dobbins said . ".
The small plates before considering going to snack pasta are called "antipasti" and they range from healthy options such as pickled vegetables, olives and artichokes to the heart --
The stopper is like a fried pumpkin flower stuffed with cheese.
"It is very good to make a tasting meal of antipasti," Brandwein said . ".
"The beauty is that you can choose an indulgence like the risotto ball and balance it with some healthier options.
"Soup is a main course in an authentic Italian restaurant, so it is expensive.
But you can also order appetizers.
Traditional Tuscan and Florentine soups, with a combination of escarole, beans, pasta and sausage, can be a great alternative to a meat appetizer or a cheese salad.
Pasta or main course combines a course in a traditional Italian meal, and the second or second dish is usually a simple piece of meat, ordered separately.
If this is an option, please pay an extra fee to add chicken or shrimp to the pasta and skip the course.
"It's counter-intuitive because you're adding something.
But overall, the ads for one dish will make you eat less and more saturated than eating pasta alone, "Dobbins said.
The pasta, with many shapes and sizes, is at the heart of the Italian dining experience.
Usually, the most harmful thing to a healthy diet is not the pasta itself, but the part.
"I often order half a portion of pasta," says Brandwein . ".
You can also order two different halves to separate the splurge from the healthier option.
It's hard to do this with lasagna, but you can ask the server to cut it in half and share it on both plates.
Fill your plate with hollow pasta like ziti, orecchiette, bucatini, etc.
It looks like it will give you a larger portion than solid pasta, like pasta or pasta.
This may help you to eat less while feeling satisfied.
By the way, the Italian risotto is the opposite.
"White noodles are similar to white rice in nutrition, but rice is more dense," Dobbins said . ".
"So you might have more risotto than light, hollow pasta. ” Go whole-wheat —
If you really like it
Wheat is undoubtedly a better nutritional option than white pasta, and it can also be chewy unless it is professionally prepared.
"As long as you eat whole grains somewhere, there is not much nutrition from a whole grain --
"Wheat pasta," Dobbins said.
"It may be worth ordering what you like and getting grain elsewhere.
"You know, beans are often used in traditional Italian cuisine, especially big fav beans, Canini beans and borotti beans.
Italian vegetable noodles fagioli (
Bean pasta)
This is a wise choice for the first dish, as beans replace a portion of the pasta, bringing fiber and protein to the dish.
There are many different places in this dish and sometimes it looks more like soup.
Be stingy with Parmesan cheese because it can pile up quickly.
If you want some, ask the waiter to grind a little on your pasta --
Or sprinkle it on yourself and take the cheese off the table.
Otherwise, you will be tempted to continue eating more cheese throughout the meal.
Don't add Parmesan cheese to the pasta stuffed with formacho.
"You already have cheese in your pasta," Dobbins said . ".
In addition, Italians will not add cheese to pasta, including shrimp or clams.
So try their way.
Learn about gluten
Free pasta, you will see it on more menus as it is stylish.
But don't think gluten
Free Pasta is healthier or less calories than white or full pastawheat pasta. Gluten-
Developed free food for people with gluten intolerance (
Or diarrhea)
Wheat, barley, oats and rye are not included.
Unless you can't stand gluten, it's not necessarily good to order this pasta.
There are two rules for selecting the menu for the sauce: first, always ask for the sauce next to it to control this part.
Second, sauces usually get the help of butter or cream before serving, so ask the waiter to give up this step.
Otherwise, you can only be prepared.
"People often try to change sauces when ordering, but they are ready," says Brandwein . ".
"You can't put both panchetta and cream aside.
Although there are many varieties of pasta sauce, they are mainly divided into the following categories: Tomato/marinade simple tomato sauce (
The famous tomato work method in southern Italy, or the tomato work method in North America)
Usually the best choice.
"This is one of the rare cases where cooking is better than fresh," Dobbins said . ".
"Tomato sauce actually concentrates the nutrients of fresh tomatoes, which contain vitamin A, C, and lycopene.
"Vodka sauce it's really just a marinade with a lot of cream, butter and Vodka, but people think it's their own variety.
Alfredo sauce is made with heavy cream, butter and Parmesan cheese and it's your worst choice --
Although garlic and sesame oil contain more calories per teaspoon. Why?
Because you use a lot more Alfredo sauce than the garlic sauce or olive oil you use.
The chef may pour more than two cups of sauce on your noodles.
Dobbins suggests that if you like Alfredo sauce, try to balance the fat by choosing a vegetable or protein such as chicken pasta primavera. Olive oil-
Unlike Alfredo, most of the "white" sauces that are not made of cheese use olive oil as the base ingredient and then cut them in white wine or broth.
A teaspoon of olive oil will not exceed your budget, but a simple "oil and garlic" pasta may be used with about a teaspoon of olive oil
The third cup of oil.
A northern Italian sauce made of olive oil, pine kernel, garlic, basil and Parmesan cheese.
While it can be very easy to fattening, the strong taste will make you much less than the marinade.
You can sprinkle 4 tablespoons on a plate of pasta.