Healthy Eating
OK, here’s the sad truth – it’s easier to get nutritional information for bland chains and fast food places than it is to get information for great local restaurants. What I’ve got below is a list of links for Oklahoma City restaurants that either have online nutritional information or have been helpful enough to guide us toward healthier items on menus. I will give special consideration to local restaurants, especially those in and near downtown (photos, etc) that try to either provide a list of healthy options or, best yet, provide nutritional information.
First, our local superstars:
PEACH WAVE FROZEN YOGURT (Bricktown, Edmond)
OK, it doesn’t get better than this when you’ve got a craving for chocolate. I did a double take on the nutrition and Weight Watchers calculation. Carbs – 18, Protein – 2, no fiber, no fat – 3 ounches for 2 points plus on Weight Watchers.
EARL’S RIB PALACE (Lower Bricktown, northwest Oklahoma City, Edmond, etc)
- Turkey Dinner: Corn on the cob, side salad w/ tomato basil vinaigrette no cheese- 460 total calories/52 calories from fat, 5 grams fiber.
IGUANA MEXICAN GRILL (NW 9 and Broadway, Automobile Alley, downtown)
Healthy items (provided by Ryan Parrott)
- Tilapia Salad with Mixed Greens, roasted corn, pico di gallo, and roasted red bell peppers, tossed with a light mezcal lime vinaigrette
- Sopa De Maiz- Completely Vegan Soup with roasted poblano chiles, Roasted corn, green curry, coconut milk, and shiitake mushroom dumplings
- Ahi Tuna Tostadas- Seared Ahi, Mango, Jicama, Cucumber
- Fish tacos-Smoked Tilapia, White Corn Tortillias, Pico Di gallo, and jicama slaw
KAISER’S AMERICAN BISTRO (NW 10 and Walker):
Kaiser’s isn’t promoted as the best place for healthy fare however, there are quite a few things on the menu that are conducive to conscientious eating:
-Roasted vegetable sandwich w. zucchini, squash, caramelized onions, tomatoes confit and fresh spinach
-PLT w. portabello mushroom “bacon,’ lettuce and tomato
-Pollo diablo chicken sandwich-roasted chicken breast marinated in chipolte peppers (not too spicy)
-Crab salad sandwich w. pickled jicima and carrots
-Santa Fe chicken salad w. roasted chicken, bib lettuce and black bean corn salsa
-Traditional chicken salad–this one has a bit of mayo which isn’t the healthiest but other than that-roasted chicken with grapes and walnuts
-Kaiser’s house salad with chicken or shrimp
-Roasted corn and jalapeno soup–completely vegan
-Chicken tortilla soup–the only non-healthy aspect is the few fried tortilla strips its garnished with but they are a marginal component
-Buffalo burger–its 91% lean meat. For a buffalo burger, it’s very, very good, and not as dry as you’d expect. Get it without cheese and your in pretty good shape!
BIG TRUCK TACOS:
Beef al Carbon tacos at Big Truck Tacos
This was one I was very excited to get the info for. Thanks to “Tall Twin” Cally, we now know that the Taco Beef Al Carbon and Chicken Al Carbon tacos are really pretty good, nutrition wise (I estimate they’re about 7 WW points plus each and two are a filling meal for big guy like me). They typically come with about 2 1/2 to 3 ounces of meat cooked in Canola Oil, vegies, and your choice of corn or flour tortilla (corn tortilla is healthier choice). The salsas, by the way, are all natural ingredients, no use of oil, and almost certainly would qualify as zero points plus on Weight Watchers. One trick used by one fellow WW member – instead of enjoying the salsa with fattening chips, tear up a couple of corn tortillas instead.
Other options: get the naked chicken or vegetable burrito (no tortilla), which consists of vegetables, beans, rice and low-fat farm cheese cooked in vegetable stock. Or try the Cerviche naked, which is a mix of vegetables, 4 oz of rice cooked in vegetable stock (Cally reports one WW member eats it weekly and it’s a key to their successful weight loss). The HQ salad – mixed greens, cucmbers, carrots, pico de gallo, jicama and instead of dressing, use the red salsa. Can also add chicken, beef or shrimp.
Final note: owners Cally and Kathryn have always been great about responding to customers’ needs, and Cally indicates that once their new restaurant Mutts is open (and she plans to have healthy choices available there as well), she intends to make it easier to figure out nutritional info for their menu items.
Chains with locations downtown:
- Jimmy John’s (7th Street and Harrison, downtown, locations throughout metro): http://www.jimmyjohns.com/menu/nutrition.aspx
- Subway (at least three locations downtown): http://www.subway.com/applications/NutritionInfo/index.aspx
Steve’s highlight Weight Watcher’s items: Breakfast egg white, ham and pepperjack cheese muffin – 4 points
- Spaghetti Warehouse:
Steve’s Weight Watchers highlight items: Minestrone soup – 2 points plus, linguine with marinara sauce – 11 points plus
- Sonic: http://www.sonicdrivein.com/nutrition/index.jsp
- Taco Bell (the fesco-style items are very friendly): http://www.tacobell.com/nutrition/calculator
Steve’s Weight Watchers highlight items: Fresco-style crunchy beef taco – 4 points plus, fresco-style soft steak taco – 4 points plus
- McDonald’s: http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/nutrition_choices.html
- KFC: http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/
Steve’s Weight Watchers highlight items: KFC grilled chicken breast – 4 points
