If your food plan includes low-calorie salads, remember that a regular salad dressing can zero-out the calorie savings. Each little tablespoon can be 100 calories or more (and the next time you dress your salad, count how many tablespoons you use).
There are countless low-calorie salad dressings out there: the good, the O.K., and the we-don’t-want-another-taste. If you don’t like spending money on bottle after bottle trying to find the ones you like, turn your search into a “salad dressing tasting party.”
Invite friends over for a salad lunch or dinner and taste ten or more different diet dressings at once. You can ask for recommendations up-front. You’ll discover favorite new low-calorie salad dressings, and get your friends together for a healthy good time.
You can assign everyone to bring a different interesting “salad bar” item, or ask everyone to bring an undressed salad—and have a vote to award prizes to the best.
Don’t pour hundreds of calories of dressing
on a healthy salad. Photo by Kelly Cline | IST.
Our current favorite low-calorie salad dressing is Walden Farms Calorie Free Thousand Island Dressing (certified kosher by OU). But it’s the only flavor in the line that we like—after spending more than $4.00 a bottle to try all the others. For a quick diet dinner, we grab a bag of Dole cole slaw mix, some Perdue Short Cuts roast chicken…and then shake on all the zero-calorie dressing we want.
Who can resist a nonfat strawberry-banana
smoothie? Photo courtesy RedMango.com.
How many different smoothies can you drink?
If you’re at a Red Mango, you’ve got 22 options! (And they’re certified kosher, too, by Star-K.)
America loves its smoothies, but the “healthy” yogurt shakes sold by many producers are often laden with sugar or high fructose corn syrup (read the label, or check online). Determined to offer healthier smoothies, Red Mango has relaunched its line with four styles:
Fruit & Yogurt Smoothies, healthy snacks or meal replacements made from fresh fruit and probiotic frozen yogurt
Power Smoothies with added nutrition—flax seed, protein, minerals and vitamins
Fresh Fruit & Tea Infused Smoothies, made with whole-leaf tea for an extra hit of antioxidants
Iced Tea Chillers, lighter blends of tea and frozen yogurt that are an icy-cold, refreshing way to cool down in the heat
Unlike some other smoothies, Red Mango drinks are all natural and made with fresh fruit instead of frozen fruit. All are made with natural nonfat yogurt (avoid smoothies made with fat-laden ice cream and sugar-laden sorbet) and probiotics that have been proven effective in tests (the live bacteria actually make it into the stomach instead of perishing along the way—learn more about the benefits of probiotics). Extra sweeting comes from natural, non-caloric stevia, not sugar or HFCS.We’re working our way through the menu. All of them are good (have you ever met a smoothie you didn’t like?), although everyone will have his or her favorites. One standout was the Vanilla Black Tea from the Iced Tea Chillers series, reminiscent of Thai Iced Tea—but far less caloric and with beneficial probiotics.
If there’s no Red Mango near you, have your mayor send the company the key to the city. Find the nearest location at RedMangoUSA.com.
Whole grain, vegan, crunchy and superb, Judy’s Breadsticks are carried by specialty food stores in Northern California. Thanks to the Internet, everyone can enjoy them.
Twigs are made of 100% organic whole-grain wheat, barley malt and olive oil, plus sea salt or a bit of sugar, depending on the flavor.
Roasted Garlic, Sesame and Sunflower are the savory flavors; Coffee Bean and Sweet Currant are slightly-sweetened breadsticks.
The Coffee Bean breadsticks are ingeniously studded with roasted coffee beans. They’re a coffee lover’s must-have.
The Somewhat Seedy Garlicky Toasted Bites, jumbo croutons, are also worth sending for.
Read the full review to see how we used the breadsticks to make meals tastier and more elegant.
This Bodum iced tea pitcher is very handy
for infusing mint and fruit. Photo
courtesy BodumUSA.com.
Hot enough for you? Where we live, it’s day five of a heat wave.
Gather your friends and neighbors—or your work colleagues or business network—to discuss the weather at an iced tea party. We’ve got suggestions for different types of iced tea and the food to go with them.
Bodum’s iced tea pitcher has a separate, flow-through compartment that lets you infuse iced tea with raspberries, mint or other favorite flavor, while keeping the fruits and herbs confined while you pour the iced tea.
And take a few minutes to watch the luminous Marilyn Monroe performing the musical number “Heat Wave” from the film, “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” The YouTube video isn’t of the best quality, but you’ll get the idea.
Find more iced tea recipes and reviews of our favorite teas in our Gourmet Tea Section.
Here are two ideas for cooling-off drinks, courtesy of ChocolateBox Café in Malibu, California.
Instead of an ice cream soda, scoop gelato or ice cream into an iced espresso and sorbet into iced tea.
Iced Coffee Float. Coffee lovers can pair an iced espresso with gelato in chocolate chip, coffee, hazelnut, tiramisu or vanilla (you can substitute ice cream). If you’re in the mood, add a tablespoon or two of coffee liqueur to the iced espresso. Top the drink with whipped cream and garnish with a light sprinkling of cocoa powder.
Iced Tea Float. Tea lovers can create a SorbeTeani with iced tea and sorbet. It’s a no-fat, no-cholesterol vegan drink if you leave off the whipped cream. Combine iced green tea or rooibos with fruit sorbet in lemon, orange, passion fruit or raspberry. Garnish with a mint leaf and optional whipped cream or vegan whipped topping.
Pre-chill the glasses in the freezer for a frostier drink.
Cool off with an iced espresso combined with coffee gelato. Photo courtesy ChocolateBox Café.
If you’re in the neighborhood, ChocolateBox Café is hosting a Summer Happy Hour. All ChocolateBox Café drinks, hot and cold, are half off Mondays through Thursdays from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (through August 26, 2010).
What’s the difference between ice cream and gelato? Sorbet and sherbet? See our Ice Cream Glossary.
