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!

Spring Fruits and Vegetables

Goodbye snow, goodbye ice, goodbye heavy winter clothes and hell-ooo beautiful weather! I think it is safe to say that we are all pretty excited for the spring season. Spring resembles life: flowers bloom, animals mate, and beautiful color fills our atmosphere. Another wonderful aspect of the spring season is the variety of food.

For those of you who can use a bit of a spring cleaner-upper, why not start cleaning up bad eating habits? Let’s face it: the majority of us probably failed at keeping our New Year's resolutions of being “fit and healthy.” So why not take advantage of this new opportunity to make things right? Speaking of fit and healthy, keep in mind that summer will soon be around the corner and substituting unhealthy sweets with spring filled fruits is an easy fix. Strawberries are first on the list. Strawberries are available all year round in some areas but they suffer less damage in transit and are more likely to be fresher in quality during the springtime. These wonderful berries are very nutritional as they provide 3.5 grams of fiber and attribute to your vitamin C dosage.

All of the following fruits do wonders to the body so them all together and have yourself a dream fruit salad:

• Apricots
• Avocados
• Blueberries
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi
• Pineapple

The hard part about eating healthier is that vegetables are not the first foods to be considered due to the daily diet of most Americans consisting of meats and fried foods. Asparagus is a good spring vegetable due to its great nutritional value as they are low in fat, high in fiber, and provide a good source of vitamin B and C as well as iron. Fresh peas are also a great spring vegetable because they too are low in fat, high in fiber, and provide a great source of plant protein.

The following vegetables are also great in the spring:

• Artichoke
• Arugula
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots

There are a number of fruits and vegetables that we should really take advantage of this spring season and it can also be a great adventure picking them yourself at a farm. Choose your food wisely as a lot of the best tasting foods contain the least amounts of grease and oil.

March Madness Catering

March is finally here, so get your brackets ready! A sure sign of Spring for all basketball fans is the start of March Madness. The NCAA March Madness Tournament kicks off March 15th, and that’s enough of a reason to celebrate. Get the gang together for an epic March Madness party and you can place your bets on La Bottega of Farmingdale to provide you the perfect catering everyone will enjoy. All you have to do is pick up the phone, give us a call, and let the madness ensue!

The last thing you want to do at your own party is spend time in the kitchen preparing food, cleaning, cooking, and missing out on the game. We have catering packages that will suit the tastes of all your guests. When choosing food for an event, guests usually expect to be munching down on delicious foods they can eat with their hands that doesn’t make too much of a mess. We offer spiedini, which are like delicious mini-meals on a skewer. Basketball fans can enjoy chicken, steak, or ship spiedini skewers even when they are standing cheering on their team.

You can’t go wrong with our famous paninis as they are known to be party pleasers. We let you choose from 6 varieties of many panini options so that all your guests will be sure to fill up on something they’ll love. The paninis are cut in fours so guests will be able to try a little of everything. Our panini options include vegetarian, steak, chicken, cured meats, roasted turkey, pork, or shrimp, all prepared fresh and served hot!

At La Bottega of Farmingdale, we can work with you to help coordinate your March Madness party and make recommendations to ensure your party is a hit. You can check out our full catering menu to help you decide what works best for your event. Whoever you root for, win or lose, we are sure your guests will go home happy when you choose La Bottega of Farmingdale for your March Madness party.

Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables

No, don’t buy strawberries yet—it’s not strawberry season! My mom says this to me during the winter months, though I can’t help it . . . strawberries are my favorite fruit! What does she mean by “it’s not strawberry season”, anyway? It’s a fruit, they’re grown all year round! You would be surprised, however, at how significant of a role timing can play into the taste of your fruits and vegetables based on the season and your geographical location.

You may still be able to find your favorite fruit or vegetable even when it is not the proper season, although it may not be the flavor and taste in which we crave from them. When food is not in season in your local area, you may still find them in a local supermarket as they are often grown in a hothouse or shipped from different parts of the world. The downside is that the taste is not always as sweet or as ripe as you would like due to the long travel in their export or the artificial flavoring that is sometimes added in a hothouse as the crops are not able to grow in their natural setting outdoors.

Another thing to keep in mind when shopping for fruits and vegetables (and you may want to thank me later) is the cost and expenses that will affect your wallet. When it is not the typical season for, let’s use for example a watermelon, the prices shoot up as the availability for fruits such as these goes down.  

As peak season is important when shopping for fruits (as it affects both your money and your meals), you can always check and inquire at your local farmer’s market to uncover seasonal produce guides. It is important to keep an idea of what crops are in peak time and what are not, and both your wallet and taste buds will appreciate the extra effort!