I used to be one of those people that would order a salad for my meal whenever I went out, thinking that it was always the healthiest choice on the menu. Then I got educated and found out a salad can be one of the highest calorie and fat items on the entire menu and that I would have consumed less calories by ordering a steak or a burger (with potatoes!).

I was such a fool! I could have been eating what I really wanted instead of feeling (and acting like a martyr) because I was being “good” and ordering a “healthy” salad. I guess the joke was on me; specifically on my more than generous thighs.

What makes some of those restaurant salads such a horrible choice? The breaded and deep fried chicken, copious amounts of cheese, hundreds of calories worth of dressing, the bacon, the croutons (the most delicious ones are those that have been deep fried), the crunchy won-ton strips or tortilla strips or fried noodles, nuts (healthy but the calories add up quickly), avocado (also healthy but calorie dense), and those delicious flour tortilla shell bowls that you can eat right along with the taco salad that’s tucked inside it (sure you could just eat the salad inside the bowl and skip that delicious, and often deep fried tortilla bowl, but who does that?).

Our salads have morphed from a heaping helping of healthy greens with a small portion of dressing to gigantic tossed meals that have gobs of fat and calories lurking among those good for us greens.

That’s not to say a salad can’t be a healthy choice in a restaurant. Grilled chicken is obviously a better choice than deep fried chicken but it can taste so bland. Marinated grilled shrimp grilled steak, or blackened salmon are much tastier options in my opinion.

And obviously ask for salad dressing on the side and use it sparingly since full fat dressings (the best tasting ones) can easily have 100 calories in a tablespoon.

If at all possible, avoid the 6 worst salads in America from Eat This, Not That! 2010 which are: Quizno’s Honey Mustard Chicken Regular Chopped Salad; Roman’s Macaroni Grill Parmesan Crusted Chicken Salad; Chili’s Quesadilla Explosion Salad; Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad with Oriental Vinaigrette; Cheesecake Factory Caesar Salad with Chicken; and California Pizza Kitchen Waldorf Chicken Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing.

The salad I’m most sad to see on the list is Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad with Oriental Vinaigrette. I love that salad! But at over 1,400 calories it’s not exactly “a light and healthy option). When I’m really hungry for it, I order it in the “small size” and get the dressing on the side. But, I NEVER order it when I’m really hungry because the small version of the salad isn’t enough food to fill me up and I end up ordering a super unhealthy dessert!