The Healthy Diet »

Dinner is traditionally the main meal of the day, and the major part of that meal is often a sizable serving — half a pound or' more — of meat, poultry or fish. If balanced with comparable servings of carbohydrate-rich foods, these protein-rich foods are 'not unhealthy. But when eaten too often or to the exclusion of vegetables and grains, large helpings of animal foods can cause a dietary imbalance by building up a surplus of both fat and protein.

Eating right at dinnertime can be especially problematic when dinging out. As the sample menu opposite shows, many of the foods that res­taurants commonly offer at dinner derive a great deal of their calories from fat. Whether you are eating out or at home, you can eat healthier dinners by keeping the following hints in mind:

1. Eat modest portions of meat, ideally between three and five ounces. You can do this — and still have a satisfying meal — by accom­panying the meat with plenty of vegetables or by serving combi­nation meat-and-vegetable dishes. The stir-fried beef with vegetables for instance, has plenty of beef flavor but contains much less meat than a typical recipe for stir-fried beef or a serving of steak.

2. When possible, start your dinnera generous helping of vegetarian soup or salad. In gen­eral, these dishes have fewer calories and much less fat than those that contain meat. By the time you get to your main course, your appetite will be somewhat sated and you will find it easier to fill up on less meat. A soup like the bean, apple and leek puree not only gives you protein, but also contributes fiber, which meats do not supply. And when the soup is followed by a small serving of meat, the complete protein in the meat provides the es­sential amino acids that are missing in the incomplete vegetable protein in the soup.

3. Eat more poultry and fish than red meat. Without its skin, the white meat in chicken and turkey has less fat than red meat. And studies indi­cate that the fat in fish generally is not as harmful as the fat in red meat and may actually benefit your cardiovascular system.

4. 4. Avoid using fat-laden cream sauces and butter to coat baked po­tatoes and vegetables — otherwise you can turn lowfat dishes into, fat dishes. Try combinations of , yogurt, herbs, lemon or lime garlic and onions.

5. Eat two or more mea dinners. each week. By comb legumes with grains — for exam in the lentil croquettes with raita — you can the same complete protein as meat, but much less fat. Be so. though, not to deep-fry these tarian foods or cook them with great deal of oil.

6. When dining out, ask for salad dressing to be served on , side and use only a modest am, (Two or three teaspoons should sufficient.) You can also ask for lowfat dressing or mix your own , and vinegar dressing.

7. Use the menu opposite to you select main dishes in restaurants: The starred selections are low in fat and include lean poultry and seafood. Remove skin from poultry and avoid-food that are fried.

8. Although fruit is an essential dessert choice, foods like angel, cake and water-based sherbets also usually low in fat.

Most of the sodium that you eat Is already In your food by the time It reaches your plate and before you use a salt shaker. By goosing foods lower in sodium, you can decrease your sodium Intake; the chart below shows examples of high- and low-sodium foods. In addition to eating the right foods, you can also cut your sodium consumption by using herbs and spices, Instead of salt, to season your food.