ShareOrder Healthy
We all know it takes willpower to make nutritious choices when dining out. To beat those cravings, choose foods that you enjoy, but order them prepared by the most healthful cooking techniques—baked, broiled, steamed, grilled, poached, or blackened. Another tip: Order sauces, gravies, and dressings on the side so you don’t overdo it. You’ll find that nearly every restaurant offers sensible options.
First stop: Savanna (10 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank, 732-741-6333). This cozy little tapas restaurant is a great spot for eating healthy. Portion size is key, and the small plates that define tapas are ideal. Assorted Mediterranean spreads—hummus, baba ganoush, fava bean with mint, and white bean—served with grilled flatbread are light, fiber- and vitamin-filled, and fabulous. Spiced garlic shrimp, prepared with no added fat, are tender and tasty. If you like red meat, try the sliced skirt steak—about 8 ounces and served with cucumber pickles and miso-soy mustard. The tuna crudo with grilled asparagus and capers is freshly made to order. Organic market greens are served with sliced avocado, hearts of palm, and grapefruit in a Dijon-honey-ginger vinaigrette; the dressing is made with very little oil, and the citrus flavor of the vitamin C–packed grapefruit combined with heart-healthy avocado is a refreshing bonus.
Next stop: Osaka (604 Main Street, Bradley Beach, 732-869-0092). My first concern about Japanese dining is sodium, due to the heavy use of soy sauce in the food preparation. Osaka will substitute light soy sauce, about 50 percent lower in sodium, by request. The miso eggplant, seafood yakatori, tuna tataki, lobster and chicken hibachi, rainbow roll, and shrimp special roll are all good options. Osaka has two hibachi tables, where the chef will grill your meal with minimal oil if you request it. The menu’s seafood and vegetable choices provide a powerhouse of heart-healthy fish oils and plant-based nutrients known as phytochemicals. As at most Japanese restaurants, though, there are things to avoid, like the high-fat fried and tempura-prepared dishes. Request brown rice in place of refined white rice with your meal if it’s available. You’ll come to appreciate that the better your choices, the better they taste.
Reviewed: September, 2005
