SUMMER SALADS : Stalking Calories That Can Lurk at the Salad Bar

Heading for the salad bar so you can inch into last year’s bathing suit? Good for you. But watch out. You could be walking into a mine field filled with hidden caloric dangers if your selections are unwise.

“Dining at the salad bar can be healthful, but it can also supply you with more calories than you need,” said registered dietitian Susan Magrann, media spokeswoman for the California Dietetic Assn.

Magrann pointed to several culprits at the salad bar that could defeat your intent to cut calories.

One of the offenders is salad dressing. Selecting salad dressings high in oil content can add dozens if not hundreds of calories: a ladle (4 tablespoons) of Italian dressing contains 332 calories. Thousand Island dressing has 320 calories and French dressing contains 264 calories. “And most people don’t stop at one ladle,” said Magrann.

If you’re serious about cutting calories, use half or a quarter the amount of dressing mixed with additional vinegar or lemon juice; or use diet dressing, which contains about 40 calories per ladle or 10 per tablespoon, Magrann suggested.

Another low-calorie dressing substitute is salsa. Salsa contains only about 40 calories per ladle.

Other alternatives: lemon juice, wine vinegar or rice vinegar. No calories in any of these vinegars. Add herbs and soy sauce to any of the vinegars for a no-calorie dressing that tastes good.

Magrann also suggested that if you are watching calories strictly you should avoid dressings made with mayonnaise altogether, as they are excessively high in fat, having an oil and egg base.

“You will automatically avoid excess calories if you avoid foods high in fat,” Magrann said.

Fat calories are more than double the calories of any other food category, Magrann pointed out. Fat calories are 9 calories per gram, while calories derived from fruits, vegetables and grains contain 4 calories per gram. (Alcohol calories are second highest with 7 calories per gram alcohol.)

Beware also of the type of salad you select when eating at the salad bar, cautions Magrann.

“Remember that many prepared salads, such as potato, macaroni, fruit and cooked-vegetable salads may contain mayonnaise or other creamy dressings, which are extremely high in fat.

“If you want to curb calories, stick to salads made exclusively with greens and raw vegetables, such as broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, alfalfa sprouts, cabbage, carrot, celery or cucumber, which range from 5 to 20 calories per 1/2 cup. Greens contain 10 to 14 calories per cup.

“If you add meat or seafood to the salad, choose less fatty meats, such as chicken, turkey or fish, and limit the amount to 3 to 4 ounces or less if other protein foods (cheese or eggs) are added.

“If you use cheeses, select those that are less calorie-rich, such as feta, Jack and Swiss. Natural fresh cheeses, such as cottage, farmer and pot cheeses are relatively low in calories if made with low-fat milk, but they, too, can add excess calories if you load up. Cottage cheese has 24 calories per ounce (about 2 tablespoons), but one tends to eat cottage cheese by the cup, not ounce. Each cup contains 125 calories. A cup of whipped cottage cheese contains about half the calories. Most cheeses such as blue, Roquefort, brick, Swiss, Cheddar and Camembert contain from 85 to 113 calories per ounce, with Camembert the lowest and Cheddar the highest.

Some prepared salads are less caloric than others, said Magrann, who studied the menus of several salad bar restaurants.

Rice curry salad contains 64 calories per 1/2 cup, a three-bean salad 52 calories, cucumber and tomato salads have 47 calories, but carrot and chiles only 23 calories.

Other high-fat items to void in excess: guacamole, banana chips, coconut, croutons, bacon bits, cheese and olives. There are 35 calories in only five olives, cautions Magrann.

Cast a wary eye on the baked goods served at a salad bar if you are trying to cut calories. And watch out for the muffins, especially. A bran muffin contains 373 calories. Others, such as blueberry, oatmeal, carrot-pineapple, apple-nut, orange, banana-nut and zucchini, range from 248 to 324 calories each.

Instead of bread, choose crackers. A slice of bread contains 70 calories, while saltines or other wheat crackers tally up to 25 for two.

And you should pass up the butter too. Butter and other spreads also add high calories to a salad bar meal. Calories can add up to 67 per tablespoon for whipped butter, 52 calories per tablespoon for cream cheese. If you must have butter, go for the precut or packaged pat of butter, which contains 36 calories.

Stick with fresh fruit and avoid fruit salad mixed with cream, sour cream or mayonnaise. The chances are you can save 100 or more calories by simply choosing fresh melons, oranges, pineapple, apples, kiwi and grapes, which range in calories from 35 to 70 calories per half cup, compared to 140 to 280 calories for fruit mixed with dressing. For instance, a Waldorf salad contains 280 calories, an ambrosia salad 191 per half cup.

You are relatively safe in the soup department, but calories can grow, depending on the type of soup you select. Broth-based soups are lowest in calories, while cream-based soups are double or more in calories. For instance, 10 ounces of chicken noodle soup contains 61 calories while the creamy version of noodle soup contains 195 calories per 10 ounces.

Chicken gumbo is another high-calorie soup, with 202 calories per 10 ounces; corn chowder contains 236 calories per 10 ounces and bean or chili soup contains about 195 calories per 10 ounces.

Cream of mushroom soup, however, is fairly low, with 96 calories per 10 ounces.

Vegetable beef and chicken soups are also relatively low in fat, with beef slightly higher in calories than chicken. Minestrone and onion soups are other low-calorie soups, containing about 120 calories and 132 calories per 10 ounces, respectively. If you add cheese and bread, you are adding 28 calories per tablespoon for the cheese and 70 calories per slice for the bread (almost 100 more calories).

And now for the dessert department. Calories climb drastically when you add dessert to meals, but by controlling the amount and type, you can have your cake and eat it too, said Magrann.

Instead of a full piece of cake, have a quarter. Instead of two cookies, have one or half of one.

Better choices that would satisfy the sweet tooth while cutting calories are desserts that are low in fat, such as ice creams made with low-fat milk and frozen yogurt, which contains only about 50 calories per cup. “Watch the toppings, however,” warns Magrann.

Shredded coconut contains 17 calories per tablespoon and chocolate bits 53 calories per tablespoon. Add that to ice cream (257 to 300 calories per cup; 470 calories for a premium high-fat ice cream) and you’ve consumed almost a third of a daily total intake of calories with a single dessert.

But wait, we are not through. Beverages at the salad bar also can make a caloric difference in a well-calculated meal.

Wise beverage selections, if you are watching calories, are diet sodas, mineral waters, ice tea and coffee, which contain almost no calories. Low-fat milk contains 120 calories, but it is loaded with nutrients. A glass of regular milk contains about 160 calories.

The high calories without nutrients come from such beverages as soda at 150 calories per 12 ounces or 107 per 7 ounces; beer at 150 calories per 12 ounces. You get 128 to 191 calories from an 8-ounce glass of fruit juice, but it too has excellent nutritional value. Milk shakes are about 350 calories per 8 ounces. Malts, fruit juices and milk, however, are excellent beverage choices for children who need the extra calories for their growing bodies.

Magrann had another suggestion when dining at the salad bar: “People tend to overeat because the food is available and there are generally no restrictions. Don’t overfill your plate. It’s better to go back for seconds than overload a plate. People tend to eat everything on their plate even when they are not hungry,” said Magrann.

Eating slowly can also help reduce the amount of food you consume. “It takes 20 minutes from the moment food goes into the mouth before the brain tells the tummy to stop,” she said. Magrann is also a consultant whose nutrition newsletter giving tips on healthful eating is distributed at all 14 locations of the Soup Exchange in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County. The chain invites the public to write for a subscription free of charge. Write to: Susan Magrann RD, Soup Exchange, 2645 Financial Court, Suite A, San Diego 92117.