Making healthy choices during Summer BBQ Season

Summertime is all about barbeques with your friends and family, but the food available at these barbeques may not always be the healthiest. There are ways though, that you can eat healthy while still enjoying yourself and eating what you like.

One way to ensure you eat healthy is to make your own dish and bring it. This way, even if all of the foods there are not as healthy as you would have liked them to be, you can have at least one healthy meal to indulge in. Portions are another huge part of being able to stay healthy. You can still eat those macaroni and potato salads as long as you don’t over-do it. Make sure to pay attention to the amount of starchy foods you are eating and try to keep portions small.

Start out by eating vegetables. If you fill up on the healthy stuff first, you’ll have less room for the non-healthy foods later on. Getting up and doing some physical activity after your meal is helpful too. Although you don’t need to go and run a marathon, having a catch in the backyard or doing some other kind of backyard game will definitely have a positive impact on your body and the way your meal is digested.

Another way to make sure to stay healthy but still be able to eat the good stuff is by eating salads. If you are having trouble figuring out what you should put into your salad, La Bottega in Farmingdale has a number of different salads for you to choose from. Salads are a great thing because you can add ingredients to them while still being able to keep the meal healthy. Two ingredients that are not only healthy but tasty are fish and grilled chicken. Fish is one of the healthiest foods in the world. It’s loaded with protein and vitamin D and grilling is a low-fat cooking method for chicken. Grilled chicken is a great source of protein and carbohydrates. La Bottega has a large selection of salads that are both healthy and delicious and contain grilled chicken as well as different types of fish. Adding these healthy ingredients not only make your salad more enjoyable, but give you a healthy amount of protein and vitamins too.

How to craft the perfect summer salad

With the summer essentially here, there will be a ton of barbecues to attend as well as dishes to bring with you. One dish that is always put out first, is the salad. For many, the salad course gets lost in the shuffle, but truly paying attention to the details, will get you compliments from everyone at the party!

When creating a salad, the ingredients are always the most important: You want the salad to not only be nutritious but delicious. Deciding your overall theme for your salad whether it’s sweet, tangy, savory, or a combination will help you hone in on the best ingredients for your salad. Having a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand will leave you with many options. A good salad will be well balanced, with colors, texture and flavor. When making a salad the end product should always be to make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible and as delicious as possible. Also while creating the perfect salad it is important to incorporate some type of lean meat, like chicken. This will give you that special taste as well as make it more of a filling dish to put it over the edge. To give you salad the best flavor you should marinate the meat you use as well as to make sure the dressing used for the salad compliments well with the consistency of the whole dish and doesn’t overpower it so that it just tastes like dressing the whole time. The last part of creating the perfect salad is the assembly of the salad so that all the ingredients are mixed in just right so that every bite shares the same complexity.

Salads like our Rucala Caprino e Pollo, combine grilled chicken, baby arugula, goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, toasted walnuts, with a balsamic dressing for a sweet and crunchy texture. One of our new salads called Insalata di Mango features baby kale, fresh mango, grilled chicken, quinoa, cherry tomatoes, almonds, shredded mozzarella, with a mango dressing provides a unique sweet and savory experience. Whatever salad  you decide to craft, creating unique flavors and textures using fresh and healthy ingredients is your key to success.

Crafting the perfect salad may seem daunting to some people but with the right ingredients and the right attitude there should be no problem. Salads are meant to be healthy and enjoyable and there is no reason why either of those should be compromised.

Hot soup isn't just for the winter: Scientific reasons why soup actually cools you down

Many people believe that soup should only be had during the winter months or maybe when you’re suffering from the cold or flu, but there are many scientific reasons to suggest otherwise. There is evidence out there that shows how soup can actually cool you down during the hot summer months.

One of the main reasons is that soup can help resupply your body with fluids that are lost throughout a hot summer day. The broth of the soup is the main contributing factor to this. Another thing to consider is that drinking something hot will in turn make you hot, and that will trigger the body’s natural cooling process of sweating which will inevitably make you cooler! 

The ingredients of the soup can also have a cooling effect if they are vegetables that are rich in water content. Although soup is not the most common thing to have when it is hot out or may not be something everyone craves, this scientific evidence proves otherwise. The lasting effects of having soup will definitely be felt later in the day when you have a better feeling of energy because of increased hydration. It should also be noted that eating or drinking something cooler than your actual body temperature like ice cream or beer will not have the same lasting effects of having something hot or spicy, like a soup. Having something cool will initially feel relieving but it will only last a short while and then you’ll feel then need to have more. Something like soup will last much more into the day and by that time you most likely won’t feel the need to cool off any further.

Here at La Bottega of Farmingdale, our soup menu has a wide variety of soup options that can help you cool this summer. Our lobster bisque is a great summer option that will not only cool you down but will taste amazing.Our zuppa di pollo ai vegetali is also another great and delicious option that features vegetables that will also aid in the cooling process.

Having soup on a hot summer day may seem like a preposterous idea but these facts suggest that it may be exactly what you need. Instead of grabbing an ice cream cone, go have a bowl of soup and see for yourself!

The Best Ingredients to add to your salad if you are Healthy Conscious

People hear the word salad and automatically think it’s healthy. But, that is not the case with every single salad. Some are made with too much cheese, fattening creamy dressings, and loaded up with croutons, these are not the ingredients to put into a salad when trying to eat healthy. Sometimes it might be hard to go out to eat at a restaurant and order a salad that is both flavorful and good for the body but La Bottega in Farmingdale has over 30 different salads to choose from, each containing at least one of the ingredients that are perfect for a health conscious person.

Some of the healthiest salad ingredients are dark leafy greens, carrots, tomatoes, beans, fish, avocados, vinaigrette, citrus fruits, mushrooms, and peppers. Each of these ingredients is unique in how they provide for the body.

Dark leafy greens, carrots, tomatoes, vinaigrette and citrus fruits are great for preventing a number of different cancers. The beans are a source of protein and can help to suppress tumor growth. Fish, salmon specifically, is rich in B6 and reduces the recurrence of colorectal adenomas, a type of cancer. Avocados are extremely healthy and provide the body with a number of different nutrients. Avocados contain lutein, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene which prevents eye disease and cancer, decrease asthma symptoms, and are good for the bones, skin and immune system. Mushrooms are also great for the immune system and peppers contain a lot of Vitamin A, which plays a role in bone growth, reproduction and immune system health and is important for healthy vision; and Vitamin C which protects against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, and eye disease.

Of all the salads available at La Bottega, more than half of them contain at least one of these healthy ingredients. If you’re in the mood for a salad with seafood, La Bottega has four different salads made with the customer’s choice of shrimp or salmon. The Salmone e Pere salad is made with salmon, spinach, endive, red pears, toasted pecans, roasted beets, cherry tomatoes, and a raspberry vinaigrette, not only does this salad have the healthy fish in it, but it has vinaigrette, spinach, and tomatoes also. Another salad we have that is made with fish, is the Gamberoni e Guacamole salad. It has grilled shrimp, lettuce, guacamole, toasted almonds, cherry tomatoes, roasted hot peppers, and lime dressing. That one salad alone has five of the healthiest salad ingredients available.

If seafood is not something you are interested in, there are also salads made with grilled chicken and salads that do not contain any kind of seafood or meat. The Insalata con Funghi for example, is made with mixed greens, portobello mushrooms, roasted peppers, toasted sunflower seeds, and mozzarella with balsamic dressing.

Eating healthy can easily be done when dining at La Bottega. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options are also available.

Mothers Day Catering

Give Mom a break and let us do the cooking for a change! La Bottega of Farmingdale, located in Farmingdale, New York on Long Island, has an extensive catering menu if your family just feels like staying in and having a party at home.

La Bottega of Farmingdale has been captivating the quaint town of Farmingdale with our world famous panini and salads. We are an Italian eatery open for both lunch and dinner, and for our catering services, are available during any of these times for your party.

La Bottega of Farmingdale prepares half-trays of our gourmet Italian food to serve 10-12 guests, with full trays ranging from 18-20. Mother’s Day, which is on Sunday, May 8th of this year, has become quite a tradition for many families, and if you have enough guests to feed, we are delighted to help you out and make this Mother’s Day party a success!

Our catering is prepared fresh, served hot, and available for pickup or delivery. Try our brand new 6 foot panino, which comes with a choice of mixed greens or arugula, fresh mozzarella or fontina, and tomato or sun-dried tomato, paired with grilled zucchini, grilled portobello, prosciutto, sopressata, parma ham, or speck. It is perfect for Italian lovers or for those looking to perhaps be a bit healthy at the party.

Why not try ol’ reliable from our standard menu? Eggplant rollatini or parmigiana is always an excellent Italian meal, or perhaps try our various chicken breast recipes, which include being suateed with white wine or topped with fresh tomato, mozzarella, or brocoli rabe. Our fish menu is also a great choice, and includes a variety of shrimp, talapia, or salmon cooked to however you like.

Whatever your choice, be sure to come down to La Bottega of Farmingdale in Nassau County on Long Island for a great dinner for Mom on her day!

How to Eat Light

What is the difference between eating light and eating heavy? Light eating is more than just a nutritional buzzword as it will allow you to eat foods in their most digestible order. Lighter foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and so on, will be digested before the heavier foods, such as carbs, proteins, and starches, and the lighter foods will not be trapped. There is a science to light eating that is easily adaptable for any person regardless of age, gender, or current weight.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day, and by far the most important. Besides providing us with energy throughout the entire day, breakfast foods are good sources of nutrients such as calcium, iron, fiber, and Vitamin B. The essential nutrients gained by eating a light and healthy breakfast will help you on the track to a healthier lifestyle. Eating a heavy breakfast, for example, can achieve quite the opposite. You may think that a heavy breakfast will keep you full for a longer period of time, but research has disproven this, and the calories you gain from a heavy breakfast will do more for your waistline than for your health. A great routine for the morning is a smoothie or shake as the fruits, vegetables, etc. can be easily digested in liquid form.

Lunch should be the first meal of the day that could be a little heavier, but still not heavy like dinner. Salad can be called the ideal light eating lunch as fruits and vegetables are easy on your digestive system and provide a large number of health benefits. Dinner, like lunch, can be a little heavier, but if you are trying to eat a light diet, keeping away from heavy carbohydrates will be your best bet. The light eating philosophy allows your body to detoxify naturally, digest better, and provide you with more energy. La Bottega of Farmingdale offers numerous menu items that can be classified as a light meal.

Spring Salads

Spring is starting once again, and it is a good time to look at some recipes for this bright, warm season. Spring salads are filled with leafy greens, such as lettuces and spinaches, and there is a lot of different things you can add to a spring salad to add flavor and zest.

La Bottega of Farmingdale offers a wide array of spring salads, with an example being a market salad with some poached chicken, and involves using endive, a leafy green vegetable, watermelon radishes, and a lemon citronette dressing. The salad represents spring in its colorful, fresh look, and it is very flavorful as well. Another spring salad recipe is for the Asparagus and Pea salad filled with peas and raw asparagus, made from a buttermilk dressing with chives, parsley and tarragon.

The cucumber and mint salad is another good spring salad to try, especially with a side of toasted pitas. The salad is filled with a light vinaigrette dressing, cucumber mint, and green beans. The toasted pitas are coated with a light olive oil as well as some garlic to make an interesting change up from the standard croutons with most salads.

You might want to try this next spring salad if you are a fan of shrimp. This salad uses marinated shrimp and adds lemon and fresh basil for a great, outdoor meal. Spring is also known for fruits as well as flowers and greenery, so why combine the two for a great taste? Spinach and strawberry salads can be topped with whatever dressing you would prefer, and they are good for you too! The lemon juice and peas is also a popular combination, which is another example of fruit pairing with a green vegetable.

One final salad to get you in the mood for spring is the butter lettuce radish and avocado salad. You can also throw on some mustard dressing for a flavorful salad. It is a light salad as well, only 152 calories.

Salads are good for you, but that doesn't mean they have to be plain and ordinary. Adding fruits and different seasonings can really add flavors you have never tried, so try to throw different fruits or vegetables in for a good taste. Spring has sprung, and so has fresh salad season!