Italian Food- Paleo Style

Italian Cuisine

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 newsletter pieces 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, be sure to look out for this section each month in the newsletter!

This month, 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 c