The best of the new light menus from your favorite chains

Hungry-Girl


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We at Hungry Girl are SOOO happy that many restaurants, in addition to being more forthcoming with their nutritional info, are featuring lower-calorie meals. Here's a rundown of a few popular chains that have jumped on the "light" bandwagon...

Romano's Macaroni Grill

Oh, MG. You were practically Public Enemy #1 in the chain restaurant world to us. Now, you've changed your stripes. You revamped the ENTIRE menu -- adding new items with reasonable stats and bringing down the fat and calorie counts of some of your more ridiculous items. That Scallops & Spinach Salad, which used to have over 1,300 calories and 90g fat, is now totally respectable with 460 calories and 18g fat!

HG Pick: Jumbo Shrimp Spiedini


230 calories, 5g fat, 670mg sodium, 15g carbs, 6g fiber, 31g protein

Big shrimp hoisted on rosemary skewers and served with roasted vegetables. We're impressed...





Chili's

Don't try to avoid our gaze, Chili's. You KNOW we're annoyed with you. Why? Because you've pulled most of your Guiltless Grill entrees and replaced them with a couple of salads and a chicken wrap. WHAT-EVER. You're just lucky those salads sound good. And at least we can still order a bunch of items "GG style."

HG Pick: Guiltless Grill Asian Salad


370 calories, 22g fat, 960mg sodium, 22g carbs, 7g fiber, 26g protein

OK, if you're troubled by the 22 fat grams attached to this pile o' veggies, you're not alone. We recommend swapping out the standard dressing for something a bit lighter. Do it.




Ruby Tuesday

You know what? This one is pretty lame. A bunch of new "Salad Sensations" were recently introduced, but none of them are worth the high calorie and fat counts. They need some SERIOUS tweaking. The Southwestern Beef Salad has over 1,100 calories and 80 grams of fat, more than a full rack of Ruby's Classic Barbecue Ribs! Ugh...

HG Pick: Santa Fe Chicken Salad


676 calories, 35g fat, 1,095mg sodium, 30g net carbs, 8g fiber

If you want to try one of the new salads, go for this one. BUT swap out the Southwestern Ranch for Lite Ranch (and maybe some extra salsa), and nix the wonton strips and cheese. You'll still have a salad loaded with chicken, beans, pico de gallo, avocado, and other fun stuff.



Applebee's

This place gets a thumbs-up for coming up with entrees (complete with sides!) that total under 550 calories... but we STILL really wish it'd give the full nutritional info. Regardless, we'll give Applebee's props for these smart and appealing meals that we DON'T have to special order.

HG Pick: Asiago Peppercorn Steak


390 calories

A 7-oz. sirloin topped with cheese and served with steamed veggies and potatoes? Nicely done. Proper portion sizes are EVERYTHING!





California Pizza Kitchen

Have you heard about the new Small Cravings menu? We're kind of excited about it. Some of the items are just OK, calorie-wise, but others are nice and low. Like "order it AND split a pizza with your pals" low.

HG Pick: Asparagus & Arugula Salad


173 calories, 2g sat. fat, 442mg sodium, 8g carbs, 2g fiber, 4g protein

Here's our diabolical plan. Find a couple friends. Go to lunch. Each order your own petite A&A salad, and go "thirdsies" on a thin-crust Margherita pizza. You'll each take in fewer than 550 calories!




Now check out Hungry Girl's Fast and Easy on the Go Breakfasts
And stock up on these Amazing Ingredients for Easy Guilt-Free Cooking.


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