By Anne Gelhaus
OK, you've resolved yet again to take that extra 10 pounds off this year, and you don't like the diet plans espoused by Jenny Craig or Richard Simmons. Besides, you eat out a lot; so, you're looking for menus that will assist you in your determined effort. Hence, here's a short list of West Valley restaurants whose cuisines prove that healthy eats can be mighty tasty:
* Bentos California--Owners Curtis Pieratt and Susan Ganier have made sure Bentos is a healthy, quick alternative to fast food: Most of their items are lowfat and low-calorie. Box meals come with a meat, fish or vegetable skewer placed atop steamed sticky rice, a marinated salad and a cup of tropical sauce.
151 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Suite A, Los Gatos. 395-8133.
* Fresh Choice--The Fresh Choice concept is based on freshness, selection, service and value. For $5.99, a hungry customer can load up on an all-you-can-eat helpings of salads, pastas, soups, muffins and desserts. For the calorie-conscious, salads can be topped with nonfat or lowfat dressing, and there's even a nonfat soup.
15970 Los Gatos Blvd., Los Gatos. 358-3403; Westgate Mall, 1554 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga. 866-1491.
* Malee's Thai Cuisine--As with most Thai food, the secret is in the exotic spices, such as Thai silver lime, a subtle, sweet citrus fruit.
"Thai food has less oil than Chinese," chef Malee says. "We do not add cornstarch, and we use natural juices [for a thickening agent]."
135 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. 399-5333.
* San Torini Cafe--Owners Zohreh Ghafourifar and Farzad Defaee run their restaurant by the motto: "If you eat right, you live a longer, healthier life."
Ghafourifar adds, "We have a lot of vegetable dishes and a special daily veggie combo with stuffed grape leaves; veggie quiche; potato cutlets; zucchini and eggplant and more."
453 N. Santa Cruz Ave., Los Gatos. 395-5730.
* Strings Italian Cafe--The "Healthy Heart Strings" section has items low in sodium, cholesterol and saturated fats and features fresh herbs, vegetables, extra virgin olive oil and pastas prepared with durum and semolina flours, egg whites and spinach. A popular favorite here is the spinach linguine and shrimp ($9.75) sauteed in a zesty seafood broth.
Westgate Mall, 1554 Saratoga Ave., San Jose. 378-1786.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, Wednesday, January 3, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.