Saying Goodbye to the Default Restaurant Salad + Hello to Dark Leafy Greens

My schedule has been jam packed in the most fun kind of way recently, but it has sent me into an anxious spiral around meal planning and having to eat while on the go. It has been a few weeks since I gave an update on how the Savory Living online program is going, so I definitely wanted to share what I have learned. I am never going to be the person who cooks at home every night. I am self aware enough to accept this! So I love that the program isn’t just teaching me ways to cook (although I do love that piece of it), it is teaching me the science behind other food decisions I make while at restaurants or eating in a situation where I didn’t create the menu. I’ve pulled together my takeaways from the past two weeks, so hopefully you can learn from what I have learned! If you haven’t I also recommend you read my post about flavor balancing and this post about what this online resource is.

Savory Living has taught me some great tips for improving my cooking skills, but to really be able to implement these changes as part of my everyday life, I needed some tips on what to order at restaurants. I have to face the facts here. As great as I get at cooking, my lifestyle just isn’t conducive to home cooked meals everyday. I am often dining out for client lunches at work or grabbing something last minute while I am on the go between meetings. For dinner, I try and have a better structured plan for the week but when you throw in social events, birthday celebrations, and spontaneous summer get togethers, the weekly meal plan can quickly get thrown off. Matt and I also really love trying new restaurants. This might seem weird for someone who is so reliant on “safe” food options but it isn’t just about the food. I have always loved going to new restaurants to experience the ambience, the design, and the whole experience of dining out. It isn’t so much about the food, but being able to have some tips on what to order, would make it even more enjoyable.

Choosing what to order at a restaurant can be really difficult when you are balancing multiple food allergies or sensitivities. I always try and research my options before I arrive at a restaurant to see what the gluten free choices are. Unfortunately, this can sometimes leave me with the only GF option being a salad. I love a good salad but my body does not. Uncooked vegetables can be a nightmare for me although I truly enjoy the taste of them. I can’t tell you how many work lunches I have been on where I reluctantly ordered a salad because it was the lesser of the evils. I was trying to be “healthy” but it really was backfiring.

In my third session of the Savory Living program, I got the scoop on dark leafy greens and how to incorporate them into my diet, even while dining out. At first I was super reluctant because I automatically associate veggies with feeling sick (totally the opposite of what you are supposed to think, right?!). The key is having COOKED dark leafy greens and cooking them right so that they taste good. There is a whole Vegetable Flavoring Guide that Sue gave me, similar to the flavor balancing chart, so I could easily learn how to make this stuff taste really good at home. I’ve got that down and can make a frozen spinach into a mouthwatering side dish. Really, I can, and I never thought I would say that. When I am ordering from a restaurant, instead of defaulting to the salad section, I look at what vegetable sides I can get. Usually restaurants have seasonal veggies which are cooked, so they are a lot easier on your stomach than a salad and you are going to get more complex veggies which are richer as far as nutritional benefits. This really has changed the way I order at restaurants and I am opting for a protein and veggie sides instead of the dreaded salad. This makes ordering a whole lot less stressful. I select my veggies first and go from there, that way I know that I am crowding in the good stuff first.

I’ve also started to get creative with incorporating veggies in different ways at home. Instead of always making a veggie a side, I’ve been trying to understand the ways in which their unique flavors can contribute to a dish and really enhance it. I’ve been really obsessed with the cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Joe’s so I’ve been playing around with different protein and vegetable combinations with it. My favorite so far is throwing in some broccoli rabe and chicken sausage in with it. The more I learn about food, the more I am growing to really appreciate it for it’s flavors and benefits instead of just something I have to have to keep going. The Savory Living program has really helped to shift my mindset and I’ve picked up a ton of tips that I actually am implementing. I’ve been able to really shift the paradigms I had about certain foods and move away from the reluctance I have had in the past.

The next session I am starting today is all about how sugar impacts the body. I am so excited for this one because I know sugar can be such an inflammatory  ingredient but it is found in just about everything. More to come on my finding from this round!

I’ve gotten some really positive feedback on these posts around what I am learning so I am SO excited to say that you can try your first online session for FREE!! Follow this link and use the code "PZC4F2ZM" to sign up, and with my code you also get 10% off of the program! The first session alone is full of such valuable information and you get to learn it all from the convenience of your own sofa.

As always, let me know if you have any questions at all, and drop me a message telling me what your favorite vegetable focused restaurant order is?

xx