Gourmet Food Can be Healthy: Day 1 at Canyon Ranch

          This is the first in a series of posts about my stay at Canyon Ranch in Lenox MA.  If you haven't heard of Canyon Ranch, it's a resort and spa with fitness classes, seminars, outdoor activities, medical facilities, spa services, and of course amazing food!        

         The philosophy on food at Canyon Ranch seems to be that food can be healthy and still taste good. The award winning cuisine is prepared by a staff of gourmet chefs who work with nutritionists to make sure it's prepared using natural whole foods, limited salt and sugar, and served in smaller healthy portions. The calorie counts and other nutritional information is published on every menu. I arrived in time for lunch today, and ate whatever I wanted for both lunch and dinner without regard to the calorie count (until after when I entered everything into my tracker). I left dinner completely stuffed, and under 1500 calories for the day! Here is a sampling of some of the dishes available at Canyon Ranch.

          Croque Monsieur (355 calories): This was made healthier with turkey instead of ham, and served open face over a slice of multigrain toast. The parmesan sauce made it feel indulgent and was hard to believe this was a healthy version of one of my favorite bistro dishes. I ordered this with a side of baked fries which were seasoned perfectly and only 110 calories!

          Vegetable triangles (125 calories): Flaky phyllo dough filled with spinach, tomatoes, and feta cheese.

          Steak (405 calories): Slices of medium rare tenderloin served with truffle mashed potatoes, and brussels sprout hash with turkey bacon and caramelized onion. The steak which was fork tender was just as good as any steakhouse in Boston, and I loved the truffle mashed potatoes!

          Vanilla bean goat-cheese cake with a side of fat free chocolate sauce (~150 calories, just dipping in the sauce): I loved the flavor of the goat cheese, and it tasted much lighter than traditional cheesecake.

          In addition to the dining room and cafe, Canyon Ranch has a demonstration kitchen where you can learn to prepare these types of dishes on your own! I plan to check this out tomorrow, make sure to check back for more updates (and of course pics)!