The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies - Meri Raffetto [76]
Dim sum (chicken or fish with vegetables): Dim sum is always a good choice when you want to get some vegetables in your Chinese meal.
Barbequed pork with mustard and seeds: This dish makes a great starter. You can also combine it with soup and a vegetable to make it into a whole meal.
Chicken or scallops with vegetables: To keep this meal low-glycemic, make sure the meat or seafood isn't fried.
Stir-fried chicken, shrimp, or tofu with vegetables: Stir-fry dishes are simple and delicious. They also offer a variety of foods in one dish, making it easy to forgo the rice or eat much less of it.
Moo Goo Gai Pan: This simple and light meal combines chicken with mushrooms and often other vegetables.
Shrimp and snow peas: Another light meal, shrimp and snow peas is also a relatively lowfat dish.
Fast-food restaurants
Fast food falls into that category of not-so-low-glycemic-friendly foods. However, there are a few choices that you can get by with when you're out and about and need to pick up a quick meal:
Salads: I know fast-food salads may not sound that appealing, but their quality is continually improving. Many fast-food chains now offer premium salads, such as Caesar salads and grilled chicken salads, that are much more exciting than the small side salads they used to serve.
Apple slices: Many fast-food restaurants are now offering apple slices as a healthier option for kids' meals. Well, apple slices are pretty darn good for adults too!
Sub sandwiches on whole-wheat bread: Whether or not you can get a sub sandwich on whole-wheat bread depends entirely on the restaurant, but some do offer whole-wheat options. Stick with turkey, chicken, or veggie sandwiches to keep your calorie level down.
Half a sub sandwich and soup: Many of the sub sandwich shops feature a variety of soups. If you really want to keep your calorie level and glycemic load down, pick the smallest sandwich choice (even if it's a kids' size) and get a side of vegetable or minestrone soup.
Soft tacos: This fast-food pick has a lower glycemic load and a lower calorie level when prepared with corn or whole-wheat tortillas. (The soft flour tortilla shell actually has a higher glycemic load than the crunchy corn taco shell.)
Italian restaurants/font>
Selecting low-glycemic dishes from an Italian menu can be tricky because most Italian menus feature a lot of pasta dishes, which fall within the medium to high glycemic load range. Italian restaurants are obviously known for pasta dishes, but they're also well-known for tasty seafood and poultry. Following are your best low-glycemic picks at an Italian restaurant:
Cheese- or meat-stuffed ravioli: Although stuffed ravioli is still a pasta dish, the stuffing actually helps lower the pasta's glycemic load down to at least a medium level. This dish is a good choice when you want a little pasta.
Cheese-stuffed tortellini: Again, the stuffing lowers the glycemic load of this pasta dish to a medium level.
Chicken cacciatore: This entree often has some sort of pasta served with it, but the main focus is on the chicken. Order a side salad with this meal and eat less of the pasta.
Frittata with vegetables: This egg dish is a very good low-glycemic choice. If it's served on toast or bread, ask for the whole-wheat variety.
Minestrone soup: This veggie-and-bean-packed, broth-based soup is always a good bet. Some minestrone soups also include pasta in a small amount.
Cioppino (fish soup): If you think soup is too light for a meal, you haven't tried fish soup. Cioppino is a hearty soup that often contains up to ten different types of fish and seafood.
Pollo a la Romana (chicken in wine sauce): You may see this item listed under different names, but if you want to try it, just look around at the poultry dishes. Make sure the wine sauce hasn't been converted to a cream sauce (otherwise you'll be eating too many calories).
Muscolidella Riviera (steamed mussels in red sauce): Italy is known for its amazing seafood dishes, one of which is Muscolidella Riviera. This is