Building a low calorie meal at Chipotle

Until the menu labeling that is mandated by law and regulated by the FDA blankets the US, there is still the option of using online nutrition information available for most large chain restaurants.  I expect the information to remain available on line after the law is implemented, which is great for planning ahead.  Information on site can help you make a healthy choice at an unfamiliar restaurant you.

I recently got the notion that I should have a meal in mind in case I ended up at Chipotle.  There is one near my office.  I tried several combinations on the interactive web menu and watched the total calorie count go up or down, a little or a lot, depending on the choices that I made.  You can explore the menu this way too, just click here.

I did not add any of the meats when I was exploring, but I did add the Sofritas (a soy product/meat substitute); I think I saw an add for the Sofritas and that might be why I started thinking about Chipotle.  I did toy with tortillas and dressings.

Here is a snap shot of my "meal."  I specifically included the vinaigrette on this salad so you could see how it impacted the calorie total - 270 calories just in the dressing!  The salad has almost 500 calories with the dressing, which of course I don't need because I have the tomato salsa.  In other words, if I were placing an order, I would use the salsa for the dressing, not the vinaigrette.

Next are examples where I chose a burrito (a tortilla w/300 calories!) and a taco (a crispy shell w/ 210 calories).