Old School Diners
When browsing the main items or specials, you might be tempted by the triple-decker sandwiches, bacon cheeseburger, omelets, mayo-drenched coleslaw or other fatty appetizers. There are some smarter choices in the mix, but also a few booby traps. For example, avoid falling for the “deluxe” package (just more food and calories). Most diners have “healthy” menu sections; usually, they list cottage cheese, a bun-less burger or a plain chef salad — all a bit boring. Don’t fall for those 80s-style “diet” plates that come with fruit salad. More often than not they feature canned fruit in syrup (extra sugar and calories!).

Brunch
Popular for weekend breakfasts, diners offer up morning classics from scrambled eggs to pancakes to challah French toast. All these items are made on the same grill, which is typically (and repeatedly!) topped with oil or butter. Ask for poached or boiled eggs instead — they’re cooked in water without added fat. Add an English muffin and fresh fruit on the side, and you’ve got yourself a basic balanced breakfast.

Here are some more things to keep in mind for those breakfast favorites:
Food: Omelets
Problem: Super-sized portions and gobs of cheese
Solve It: Forgo the cheese, pile on the veggies and split large portions with a friend. (Skip the home fries, if possible.)

Food: Pancakes, French Toast
Problem: Large portions and high-cal toppings such as syrup and butter
Solve It: Choose one to two slices of French toast or pancakes. Skip the butter and measure out two tablespoons of syrup. Add on fresh berries (if available) to boost the flavor.

Food: Waffles
Problem: Enormous sizes and a topping overload of syrup, butter, ice cream and/or chocolate sauce
Solve It: Stick to half a waffle, top with fresh fruit and one to two tablespoons of syrup.

Soups & Salads
Soups can be healthy choices. Just watch out for the creamy ones! Don’t automatically assume the pea and carrot soups are lower calorie. Many use heavy cream to help thicken them so be sure to ask. Some good soup options include chicken and rice, chicken noodle, vegetable, minestrone and black bean.

At a diner, salads don’t automatically equal the smartest choice. Before selecting a salad, read the menu carefully. Check for various high-fat meats (bacon is a common addition), cheeses and eggs. You’ll probably spot a salad with all these packed into one dish, then topped with tons of Thousand Island, ranch or other creamy dressing. Instead, look for tons of veggies and tell the server to hold most of those toppings (choose one or two that you like). Ask for a vinaigrette dressing or oil and vinegar on the side. A grilled chicken salad or house salad with added chicken and dressing on the side are other good options.

Sandwiches & Burgers
I sometimes indulge in a hot, juicy burger on my trips to the diner, but I always swap out cheese and mayo for extra veggies and Dijon mustard. As for the ever-popular side of fries or onion rings, 10 fries (a small handful) typically satisfies a craving or swap in a baked potato and only eat half if it’s one of those monster ones.

Just because it’s a fish sandwich, don’t think you’ve found a healthier choice. Ask how it’s cooked. A fried fish sandwich can have more calories than a moderately sized burger! Be wary of those obnoxiously thick deli sandwiches, too; they pack three to four times more cold cuts in between those slices than a simple sandwich from home. Get your money’s worth by taking off half the meat and request to have it wrapped up to go. You can make yourself another sandwich at home the next day. Better sandwich choices include grilled chicken, sliced turkey (with two slices of bread, not three) or a veggie burger.

Desserts
Who can miss those display cases with the cookies, chocolate cakes, rice pudding and ever-present cheesecake? I love desserts but typically skip them at diners — they rarely taste as good as they look and aren’t worth the extra calories or money. If you’re craving sweets, try a small frozen yogurt topped with fresh fruit, or split a small chocolate milk or milkshake instead.

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Calories in Classic Pasta Salads
I remember growing up eating kosher hot dogs with a spoonful of mayonnaise-drenched macaroni salad on the side. These days, I don’t touch any salad dripping in mayo, and it wouldn’t make the menu in my house. A typical 1/2 cup serving of classic macaroni salad contains 310 calories — about two-thirds of the calories come from fat (about 22 grams). Whether you make it with macaroni or any other noodle, when you use full-fat mayonnaise or loads of oil, you’re not doing yourself or your guests any favors.

The Pasta
Start by switching to whole-wheat pasta or using another whole-grain pasta like Barilla Plus. This is a good way to up your dish’s fiber. With 80 calories per 1/3 cup of pasta, be mindful of the portion size (remember, this is a side dish) and stick with 1/2 cup servings.

The Fats
Typical pasta salad have several types of fat poured on them: oils, mayo, heavy cream, sour cream, pesto sauce or fatty dressings (or sometimes a combination of these ingredients). As we always say, fat is not the enemy, BUT when you add tons of it to a side dish, problems start. The rule of thumb should be about 1 tablespoon of oil or 2 tablespoons of low-fat mayo or dressing per serving.

The Veggies
Here’s where you can load up on the good stuff. Tomatoes, onions, celery, bell peppers and scallions are wonderful to use in a pasta salad. Toss in any of your weekly market finds. My favorite ingredients are green olives and tomatoes — there’s no need to add extra salt since the olives are salty to begin with.

Other Fun Add-Ins
Pine nuts, chicken, beans, mozzarella or feta cheese jazz up a pasta salad easily. Remember, that all these “extras” tack on more calories so use them sparingly to just add flavor. My young kids have sensitive taste buds — I tend to keep my salads pretty light with simple flavors. One basic pasta salad we often make has fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and a touch of olive oil mixed with the pasta. They usually end up picking out just the noodles, but once in a while, I catch them tasting a tomato (they do it on the sly).

Healthy pasta salad recipes to try:
• Garden Pasta Salad
• Healthy Pasta Salad (shown above)
• Pasta, Tuna and Roasted Pepper Salad
• Wilted Greens and Pasta Salad

[Photo: Born With A Whisk / Recipezaar]

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The Greens
Leafy greens are very low in calories and fat, but packed with fiber, antioxidants and other nutrients like folate and vitamin K. They also have the antioxidant lutein, which is good for your peepers. There are so many to choose from — spinach, endive, mustard greens, frisee, arugula and umpteen lettuce varieties. Keep your eyes open at your farmer’s market — you may even find specialty goodies like dandelion and beet greens. If you usually stick to spinach, romaine or iceberg lettuce (oh boy), be adventurous. Read up on online (or ask us) to learn what an unusual green pairs well with. Not all greens are best eaten raw, either — some might be too bitter for you.

Adding in Fruits & Veggies
Of course, it would be a boring salad if it was just greens. Adding in multi-colored veggies — tomatoes, beets, cauliflower or carrots — increase the variety of vitamins and minerals. The more colorful, the better.

If you’re an old-school salad fan, you might balk at adding fruits, but strawberries and kiwis can help compliment protein add-ins like turkey or chicken (more on those below). Mandarin oranges help sweeten more bitter greens like radicchio — they also pair well with crumbly, robust cheeses like Gorgonzola and feta. Dried fruits (raisins, dried cranberries or apricots, especially) are good for just a little sweetened zing.

Protein Add-Ins
If you’re serving a salad as your main course, you need to balance it with protein. Chicken, turkey, beef, eggs, fish and other seafood are some typical options. Small amounts of cheeses like feta, mozzarella and Parmesan help add flavor — and some protein — as well, but go easy (they’re fatty).

Beans, peas, lentils and other legumes add extra protein without much fat and cholesterol — plus, they can help you feel fuller longer. Pasta and grains like quinoa or buckwheat also have protein — just mind the amounts. Aim for 1/2 cup cooked per serving.

And don’t forget nuts and seeds. Sunflower seeds are my favorite topping. These gems are protein-packed and contain healthy fats. I like the dense crunch they give my mix, but stick to a tablespoon per person.

The Dressings
Here’s where most folks pile on the calories and fat. Are you a blue cheese lover? Well, a standard 2-tablespoon serving of that full-fat dressing can add as much as 151 calories and 16 grams of fat to your salad (that’s 91% calories from fat). Yikes! And if you order salads in a restaurant, they often come pre-dressed — or “pre-drenched.”

Making your own dressing — with an olive oil base — is pretty simple and the smartest choice. Be careful, though; 1 tablespoon of any oil is about 120 calories. Some recipes call for 2 tablespoons of oil per person, which throws an extra 240 calories into the equation. I analyze tons of recipes for Healthy Eats and only a handful of salads meet our nutrition guidelines — mainly because most dressings call for too much oil. Your best bet is to stick with 1 tablespoon or less of oil per serving. My cohort Dana makes a super simple oil and vinegar dressing. It works well on a basic salad.

To Crouton or Not To Crouton?
Many restaurant and fast-food salads are topped off with these toasted — or fried — bread cubes. That doesn’t mean you should follow suit. A half-cup of plain croutons runs about 61 calories, and the flavored versions you might find at restaurants and grocery stores can be closer to 100 calories per half-cup. Because the croutons are often just made from plain white flour (and who knows what other additives), you’re getting minimal nutrients for those 60-plus calories. If you do go for croutons, you may want to ditch that roll on the side, too.

Keeping Calories Under Control
Salad is a classic “healthy food” but, like I said, the wrong add-ons can quickly make it not-so good. Besides keeping dressing and oil under control, think about which foods give your salad the most flavors, and stick to them. Don’t overdo it and mix everything in. You only need a small amount of high-flavored ingredients like cheeses or chicken. As long as you mind your portions, you should be in the clear.

Recipes to try:
• My Spring Harvest Salad with Pasta
• Loaded Spinach Salad
• Caesar’s Salad with Grilled Shrimp
• Mixed Greens with Mandarin Oranges and Walnuts
• Quinoa Salad with Dried Apricots and Baby Spinach
• Romaine Salad with Orange, Feta and Beans
• Thai Beef Salad (shown above)

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