Regional Eating- Italian

Going on a trip, whether within your own country or abroad
need not mean taking a leave of absence from your healthy Paleo lifestyle!   Unfortunately, I’ve found that
lots of people feel a bit lost, however, when they leave the comforts of home
and are faced with NEW food choices, some of which may be slightly to extremely
unfamiliar.

 As such, I
thought it would be a great idea to have a series of articles dedicated to several different regional cuisines and how to order food within
the realm of Paleo eating.  So,
whether you have a trip to France planned, or you’re simply heading out for a
meal at your local Japanese restaurant, stay tuned!

To start, let’s go Italian!

The first thing you may think is that Italian Food = Pasta,
so forget it, right?  Wrong! Open
any good Italian cookbook and you’ll see loads of recipes for fish, poultry,
veggies and so on!

-When ordering, as always, opt for menu choices that are
grilled, roasted and sautéed, and double check with your server to make sure
there are no cream or cheese-based sauces that would otherwise accompany the
meal.

-Start your meal with an Insalata Mista, and ask for olive
oil on the side with a twist of lemon.

-Share an appetizer with the table of beef carpaccio with
melon, or something along those lines.

-As always, ask the server what veggies are in the house
that evening, that the chef might be willing to steam (or sauté in garlic &
oil- delish!) for you.  Be
adventurous- try something new! 
Instead of the same old spinach, try escarole or rapini, two of my faves!

-For your main course, choose a shrimp scampi (this can be
prepared without butter using olive oil, garlic, parsley and lemon) or a
chicken piccata (which can me made without flour).

-Many Italian places will also offer house-made sorbetto as
well- a pleasant way to end a lovely meal, without dairy, or too many calories!

Buon Appetito!