Eating on Vacation

Going on vacation has its upsides and (sadly), its downs. For me, tasting the wonderful food in great restaurants is definitely one of the best parts of a vacation; the pounds gained from eating and drinking all that great stuff—not so much.

As we set out for our long awaited trip to Florida by car last Fall, stopping in St. Louis, Destin Florida, and Tampa, I decided on a strategy that worked so well, I decided to share it with you.

Zig and I have definitely been cutting down on portion size and trying to split entrées whenever possible while eating out. Unfortunately, we don’t always want to order the same thing and in some high-end restaurants splitting is—well—a bit embarrassing. (Kudos, by the way, to Norton’s Downtown in Red Wing for offering half portions of almost all their entrees.) On this trip we decided to order one entrée and one appetizer, salad or soup—then share. In most restaurants, a full size entrée is more than enough for two, especially since you will be ordering sides, and perhaps, a dessert to share.

Our first trial was at an intimate, out-of-the-way Italian restaurant we stumbled upon in Columbus, Mississippi. We actually set out to find a great barbeque place our hotel recommended and seemed like the more appropriate dinner (When in Mississippi do as…). But when we arrived, they had just closed and so we stumbled upon the Italian place which turned out to be a great find, however incongruous. Zig ordered the special for the night, chicken ravioli stuffed with chicken, goat cheese, in a creamy sauce with pine nuts and spinach. It was delicious! I ordered a house salad, hoping that an Italian restaurant it would be something more than a plate of greens and dressing.

I wasn’t disappointed. The salad was an array of crisp greens freshly mixed (not the ubiquitous purchased spring greens mix), with plenty of olives, a few crispy veggies and a light, tasty vinaigrette. A basket of garlic-y, buttery, warm bread sticks was set on the table to curb our travel induced hunger. I ate the lion’s share of the salad, we shared the breadsticks and I was almost satisfied. Two raviolis (there were six large pasta pillows in all), a glass of wine and I was totally satisfied.

The payoff was three-fold: we got to try more dishes; we didn’t break the bank or the scale. We both agreed this was a strategy to continue on the trip, taking turns at choosing the entrée. We also decided that we will continue on when we get home, not just when eating out but for our own home-cooked meals as well. I’ll make a really delicious soup or salad and we’ll fill up on that and have little servings of an entrée. Great idea, especially if the entrée will freeze well. I’m not very good at cooking tiny amounts.

Here is a salad for this new eating plan.

Candied Walnut, Pear and Leafy Green Salad (adapted from Cooking Light, Nov.’09)

1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Cooking Spray
½ tsp. salt, divided
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 ½ tsps. Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. capers, chopped
2 cups torn green leaf lettuce
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 cups chopped radicchio or watercress
½ ripe Bosc pear, thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper

Place sugar in heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves, stirring gently as needed to dissolve sugar evenly (about 1 minute). Continue cooking 1 minute or until golden (do not stir). Remove from heat; carefully stir in nuts to coat evenly. Spread nuts on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; separate nuts quickly. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside until cool; break into small pieces.

Combine vinegar and mustard, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in capers.

Combine lettuces and radicchio or cress; top with pear and ½ the candied walnuts. (Reserve rest for another use.) Drizzle half the dressing or to taste over salad; sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Makes 4 servings.

Tip: Toasting walnuts is much faster and easier in the microwave: Place whole nuts in a small bowl and microwave on High for a minute; stir, then cook another minute or two, stirring every 30 seconds until fragrant and golden. Cool.