Talking turkey? Not always talking low-cal
If you polled 100 people about making healthier choices at restaurants, most of them could probably recite some of the rules:
n Stay away from hamburgers that are bigger than your head.
• Don't top off your meal with Death By Chocolate cake.
• Find entrees that are baked or grilled, not fried.
But finding nutritious options isn't always that clear-cut. Take turkey, for example.
Turkey's pretty healthy, right? Four ounces of smoked turkey breast has just 140 calories and 4 grams of fat.
So it's easy to assume that ordering a turkey sandwich is a smart choice, especially if you steer clear of options that include bacon or cheese. But you could get stuck with hundreds of hidden calories unless you get the facts on that sandwich first.
Panera Bread offers a wide range of sandwiches, and the Sierra Turkey sandwich seems like one of the healthier options. It has field greens, red onions and no cheese or bacon. At first glance, the only not-so-healthy topping appears to be the chipotle mayonnaise.
But brace yourselves, Panera fans, because that Sierra Turkey sandwich will cost you 960 calories and 53 fat grams, and it contains 96 percent of the sodium that most people are supposed to eat in an entire day.
You'd actually save 40 calories and 4 fat grams if you ate a Big Mac plus a medium order of fries instead.
Surprised?
I was too, so I set out to lighten up that sandwich. My first order of business was paring down the serving size. Like many restaurant offerings these days, Panera's sandwich is super-sized.
The amount of bread is the biggest problem. The turkey is sandwiched between wedges of Asiago Cheese Focaccia. One 2-ounce serving of Panera's focaccia, with 160 calories and 6 fat grams, wouldn't tip your scales in the wrong direction. But the Sierra Turkey sandwich contains about three servings of bread.
The chipotle mayonnaise also adds plenty of calories and fat grams to the mix, but I tinkered with a recipe on Emeril Lagasse's Web site to come up with a healthier option. Using light mayonnaise trims 100 calories and 12 fat grams from each 2-tablespoon serving.
Substituting whole-grain bread for the focaccia gives the sandwich another nutritional boost.
Panera's whole-grain bread is delicious, and compared to the focaccia, it has three times more fiber, which helps you feel full longer.
If you eat my Sierra Turkey Sandwich instead of Panera's, you'll save 597 calories and 40 fat grams — more than enough to have one of Panera's Very Chocolate Brownies for dessert.
2 slices of whole-grain bread4 ounces smoked turkey, thinly sliced¼ cup field greens, such as baby romaine, baby leaf spinach, arugula, ridicchio or curly endiveThin slices of red onion, to taste2 tablespoons chipotle mayonnaise (see recipe)Spread one tablespoon of chipotle mayonnaise on each slice of bread. On one slice of bread, layer the turkey, field greens and red onion slices, then top with the other slice of bread.Makes one sandwich.Per sandwich: 363 calories, 13.2 fat grams, 3 grams of fiber, 30 carb grams, 1,028 mg sodium.
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons light mayonnaise1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, seeds removed and roughly chopped2 teaspoons adobo sauce½ teaspoon minced garlic¼ teaspoon salt1/8 teaspoon dried oreganoPlace all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate until ready to use.Yields about 12 tablespoonsPer tablespoon: 43 calories, 4.2 fat grams, 2g carbs, 129mg sodiumSlightly adapted from an Emerils.com recipe.
