Sweet Tomatoes, 4994 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, Florida, has a lovely buffet of “healthy” salads, soups, pastas and desserts. For people on a diet, Sweet Tomatoes can be a challenge because it’s easy to overeat.
I’ve been to several of the Sweet Tomatoes locations in Florida. My sister enjoys the Sweet Tomatoes locations in Tucson, Arizona. But she tells me she has the same problem when eating at Sweet Tomatoes on a diet because of the Sweet Tomatoes menu with so many tempting choices!
A lot of people have the mentality that you need to get your money out of it when you eat at a buffet. Try to think of it more as a social time with family or friends and a way to enjoy a really healthy soup and salad.
Here are a few of the items we tried for my Sweet Tomatoes review and a look at the Sweet Tomatoes calories and the Sweet Tomatoes menu:
No. 1: Sweet tomato salad bar: When you first arrive at Sweet Tomatoes, you grab a tray and a plate and load up on items from the salad bar. You can choose just about anything for your salad greens including onion, carrots, beets, zucchini, radishes, hard boiled eggs, sunflower seeds, green peppers, cheese and dressings.
No. 2: Sweet Tomatoes Traditional spinach with bacon salad. The spinach salad was a special salad for the month. Sweet Tomatoes often rotates special salads each month. This one was extremely health with hard boiled eggs and onions. It did have a dressing that may have been higher in calories so keep portion size small.
No. 3: Sweet Tomatoes Joan’s broccoli madness. I love the broccoli salad with a mayonnaise based dressing, raisins and onions. I don’t like the raisins with my broccoli, but usually just avoid those. This is another side dish that is higher in fat and should be eaten in moderation. Just 1/2 cup has 180 calories.
No. 4: Sweet Tomatoes Whole grain fiesta couscous. The couscous was tasty, but is not my favorite. It was fun to try just a tablespoon. It has 280 calories in a half of a cup.
No. 5: Sweet Tomatoes Cream of broccoli soup. The cream of broccoli soup was rich and creamy with large pieces of broccoli. It contains 260 calories in a cup. The soup I tried had not been sitting out very long so the broccoli was still a little too firm. Still, a very taste and nutritious soup.
No. 6: Sweet Tomatoes X-treme Spice vegetable chili (low fat vegetarian): This version of the Sweet Tomatoes chili was good but not as good as the meaty traditional chili. For dieters, however, it’s a great pick with 100 calories in a one cup.
No. 7: Sweet tomatoes Wildly blue blueberry muffin calories: 140 calories. The blueberries are fairly tiny, but the muffin is a nice small portion size as well. As long as you skip the honey butter, share the muffin with a friend.
No. 8: Sweet tomatoes Chocolate brownie muffin goes great with their frozen yogurt. Again, it’s best to share the brownie if you are on a diet. You can’t take food home so share the higher carb items. The calories in a chocolate muffin at Sweet Tomatoes comes to 180.
No. 9: Sweet tomatoes sweet potatoes and baked potatoes: I usually get one sweet potato and other people usually go for the baked potato. Both are great. They leave out a cinnamon and sugar shaker for the sweet potato which is great. If you do indulge in their honey butter, this is a great place to put it.
No 10: Sweet Tomatoes Wonton chicken happiness salad. The wonton chicken salad includes chicken, lettuce, a sweet and sour type sauce and crispy wontons. I usually take only a few bites on my salad plate.
If you are a eating at Sweet Tomatoes on a diet, I recommend skipping their pasta bar on the Sweet Tomatoes menu. For dessert, try some pineapple. It’s possible to leave Sweet Tomatoes without feeling like your zipper won’t zip, but not easy. Being around “virtuous” foods, researchers say, causes people to underestimate how much they eat by up to 50 percent! Go in with a plan of what you will eat at Sweet Tomatoes and stick to it.
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Source: Sweet Tomatoes website
