Just as it is possible to choose healthy dishes in a Chinese or Mexican restaurant, we can also eat healthy when we go to an Italian restaurant, choosing the most nutritious or best quality preparations from all the options on the menu. Come and visit the best restaurant here Moers Restaurant.
The healthiest dishes in an Italian restaurant
Although it will always be better to eat and cook at home, in an Italian restaurant we have options to choose from as long as we look at the quality of the ingredients as well as the cooking method and the accompaniments of each dish that is proposed before selecting the healthiest alternative for taste.
Among the healthiest dishes you can order in an Italian restaurant are:
Appetizers and starters
A classic of the Italian menu is the antipasti or the appetizers that can be very varied, being a good option those that include a variety of small dishes such as a combination of olives or olives, tomato confit, artichokes, ham or some tartare. This option usually includes vegetables or oily fruits such as olives and thus offers quality fiber and fats to the body.
Other famous options are the focaccias that because they concentrate refined flours are not recommended and the bruschettas that due to the great variety that we can find are a good option when they have fruits or vegetables on their cover as well as fish or lean meats such as these. Bruschettas a la caprese or these with ham, arugula and roast peppers.
Salads with various vegetables, nuts and olive oil or with Italian burrata are also healthy and satisfying options ideal to start a meal, as well as tartare and carpaccio with different ingredients.
Some healthy alternatives are salmon and tomato tartare or lean beef carpaccio or vegetables such as zucchini for example.
Gratin and risottos
Within this group of main dishes there are a variety of pastas that are served gratin such as lasagna for example or cannelloni, as well as risottos of all kinds.
All are options that usually include refined flours and may or may not include ingredients with poor quality fats and high in sodium, such as some processed meats. Therefore, it is best to choose gratins or risottos with a variety of vegetables inside that add fiber, vitamins and minerals and thus have a lower glycemic index.
For example: beet risotto, lasagna with broccoli, walnuts and ricotta or various vegetables. Also in some Italian restaurants we can find exceptions based on whole wheat dough or brown rice, such as this whole wheat risotto with kale.
On the other hand, dishes of this type that include fish or seafood are also good alternatives and that by adding lean proteins provide more satiety and are digested more slowly, such as this risotto with prawns or this sea and land lasagna.
Pasta and pizzas
In an Italian restaurant, pastas and pizzas cannot be absent from the main menu offerings, and as we well know, both are preparations in which refined flours predominate.
However, we can find integral alternatives that we should always prefer if we are looking for a healthy dish because, unlike the classic ones, they will have more fiber, protein and micronutrients. But otherwise, we can request a pasta al dente and that it is accompanied by vegetables and lean proteins as much as possible so that its digestion is slower and its glycemic index is lower.
For example, we can opt for some pappardelle or another pasta with seafood and tomato, with pumpkin sauce, with monkfish and prawns or with the classic basil pesto.
With the pizzas we also recommend the same, that they have on their cover the largest variety of vegetables or fruits possible, that they do not contain sausages and that they incorporate some lean protein if possible to obtain more satiety and better nutrients with their consumption. For example, we can choose pizza melanzana or with aubergine, with salmon and arugula, with peppers and onion or other healthy options.