Four Tapas Dishes to Avoid While on a Diet
Surely, if you have started a diet you have already had to turn down a family meal or a dinner with friends? Being on a diet should not affect your social life, you just have to know what foods you can eat and which ones to avoid. In order to help you keep to your diet, we want to provide you with four tapas dishes to avoid while on a diet.
By knowing which tapas dishes to avoid while on a diet, you can continue to enjoy your free time while you take care of yourself. Spanish cuisine has a lot of tapas, so there is a wide variety to choose healthy options from.
Tapas to avoid while on a diet
Russian Salad
The Russian salad is one of the most appetizing tapas dishes, especially in the summer. As the heat intensifies, a fresh salad can please anyone. However, if you are on a diet, you should know that it is one of the most caloric tapas. The main reason for this is the mayonnaise, so you should really leave this tapas dish aside and choose others.
Although the base of a Russian salad is vegetables, it is still not a healthy tapas dish. The large amount of mayonnaise makes it a dish with lots of calories and fat.
If you are on a diet and you want a Russian salad, here is a light version of the recipe. Making it is very simple and you can do it at home. It is a pity that tapas bars do not opt for more light versions of traditional recipes.
Stuffed Potato
Stuffed potatoes are a tapas dish that can be made in a number of different ways. All of them have a large amount of food and some sauce in common. Therefore, what begins as a healthy cooked potato, ends up being a caloric bomb.
In order to prepare them, the first thing to do is to roast or cook the potato. Then, stuff it with a filling and add some sauce to make it juicier. These sauces are usually some type of bechamel, mayonnaise, or made from some type of cheese. They have a high fat content that is not recommended for individuals on a diet.
The filling is usually made from cheese, bacon, or minced meat. These fatty meats are also not recommended options if you are dieting. As you can see, stuffed potatoes should not be among your choices, if you decide to go for a tapas meal with your friends.
Roman-Style Squid
You can eat roman-style squid in a multitude of ways. One way is in a tapas dish with some lemon or sauce. It can also be enjoyed as a second course or in a sandwich. This last variation is typical in Madrid.
Squid is a healthy food because it contains very few calories and a large number of properties. These special properties include vitamins A, E, C, and D, as well as iron, potassium, and phosphorus. The problem is that when people prepare them, they typically put them in the fryer. With this simple act, a great food becomes one of the tapas dishes to avoid while on a diet.
In addition, squid is usually accompanied by some type of sauce, such as mayonnaise. This makes it an even less healthy option, since mayonnaise is not healthy at all.
Empanadillas
Empanadillas are a typical food in tapas bars, as well as in each and every Spanish house. Their main component is dough with a base of water, salt, olive oil, and flour. As for the filling, there are plenty of options: meat, fish, vegetables etc. The empanadilla is closed and sealed with the help of a fork. Then, it is fried in order to make it crispy.
Being a fried food, empanadillas are not particularly appropriate for dieting. The dough absorbs a large amount of oil and that makes them an unhealthy food. Although this traditional food is becoming increasingly common to prepare in the oven. This is an equally tasty but less crunchy option. In this case, you can absolutely enjoy some empanadillas.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
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