{%comp-FFFFFF-bl%} Going out to eat can be a fun way to try new foods and escape the kitchen during the heat of summer, but finding tasty, satisfying and healthy dishes can be difficult.

“If you want to eat healthily (at a restaurant), the biggest problem is serving size,” said Lori Brizee, a registered dietitian nutritionist in Bend. “You just get too much food.”

She suggests choosing meals that include lots of vegetables, or splitting an entree and starting with a green salad with vinaigrette dressing on the side. Broiled fish is always a good bet for people watching calories. Brizee also warns diners to watch the salt — especially if high blood pressure is a concern.

Nutritional needs may vary from one individual to the next — but more local restaurants are catering to health-conscious patrons of all flavors. Finding vegetarian and vegan options is easier than ever, as is finding restaurants that cater to people with food allergies and sensitivities. Many restaurants serve locally grown produce and meats free of antibiotics and hormones.

“I think eating locally sourced produce is good for nutritional status, and economic status as well,” Brizee said. “Not as much energy is being used to transport the food, plus it’s more fresh. It’s very important to use sustainably raised animals and fish, too. We’ve got to feed seven billion people on this Earth and find ways to continue providing food.”

Here’s a look at healthful and popular dishes being served at some of Bend’s favorite restaurants.

The Mother’s Bowl

Mother’s Cafe

A self-described healthy restaurant, Mother’s Cafe management takes pride in serving “holistically nutritious food” to all health-conscious people, regardless of their particular dietary choices or restrictions.

“We don’t believe in diet,” said chef and manager Joe Benavento. “We believe in lifestyle and making healthy choices about that. So we offer healthy options and whole foods.”

For a refreshing and plant-centered breakfast, Benavento recommends the Mother’s Bowl.

The heart of this dish is chia seed pudding, a creamy and slightly sweet concoction of chia seeds soaked in a puree of kale, lemon juice, ginger, mango and hemp milk. It’s garnished with apples, shredded coconut, almonds and strawberries.

Brizee recommends adding yogurt to up the protein and make this low-sodium, high-fiber, and nutrient-rich dish a truly well-rounded meal.

Both locations on the east and west sides of Bend make everything from scratch and use all organic, Oregon-sourced produce. {%pc-4021226%}

The Northern Sampling

Wild Rose Northern Thai Eats

This dish gives lunchtime patrons an opportunity to experience a bite of traditional fare from northern Thailand.

The Northern Sampling comes with a small portion of sticky jasmine rice; a shredded green papaya salad called Som Tum and a choice of chili paste. Meat lovers will gravitate toward Nam Prik Ong, ground pork mixed in a mortar and pestle with red curry, cherry tomatoes, chili, green onion and cilantro. Vegans and vegetarians may opt for the Tum Makueah: grilled eggplant ground in a mortar and pestle with roasted green chili, shallots and garlic. Fresh veggies come with the dish for dipping in the chili paste. Vegans should ask the chef to leave the fish sauce and dried shrimp out of the Som Tum dressing.

“It has lots of protein but it’s also healthy and refreshing,” said Rosie Itti, who co-owns Wild Rose with her parents Paul and Ampawan Itti. “You don’t feel heavy after eating it. … There’s no oil and the cooking methods are reflective of the geographic region.” {%pc-4008932%}

Mexicali Rose Sushi ‘Burrito’

Ronin Sushi and Japanese Grill

From a food cart parked in front of Skjersaa’s in Bend, local veteran sushi chef Scott Byers has found a way to make sushi easier to eat for his on-the-go customers. Rather than roll the sushi rice around the outside and cut it into bite-size pieces, he wraps everything inside a nori or soy wrapper — like a burrito. “Japanese food is pretty healthy to begin with,” said Byers. “And I don’t junk it up too much.”

His most popular roll is called the Mexicali Rose, stuffed with yellowfin tuna, Mexican white prawns, roasted poblano pepper, avocado, pico de gallo and flash-fried yellow corn tortilla strips (which can be left out). Any sushi roll on the Ronin menu can be made into a burrito, and options are frequently changing according to what’s in season.

Order it with a wakame salad to get in some extra vegetables. Byers has been experimenting with using brown rice or quinoa in place of white rice. He expects to have at least one whole-grain option available before summer’s end.

Byers makes it a point to only use sustainably harvested fish. It costs him $3-$4 more per pound for salmon that’s wild-caught rather than farmed, but “it’s so much better for your body,” he said. {%pc-4021225%}

Sesame Sushi Salad

Broken Top Bottle Shop & Ale Cafe

As is, this popular salad from Bend’s Broken Top Bottle Shop cafe is gluten-free and vegan, with baby kale tossed in wasabi aioli and sesame vinaigrette, served over jasmine rice with carrots, cucumbers, nori and pickled ginger.

Adding protein makes it a truly filling meal. Keep it vegan by adding tempeh, a patty made from cooked and fermented soybeans that has a nutty flavor. Or add sesame-encrusted wild, native-caught salmon from the Columbia River by Warm Springs/Yakama tribe member James Scott.

Everything is made in-house, including the sesame vinaigrette and the wasabi aioli, which chef Mark Anderson keeps vegan by using Vegenaise.

“It’s my favorite dish here,” Anderson said. “It’s healthy and I like it. Whether you’re vegan, dairy-free or vegetarian, lots of people come to Broken Top Bottle Shop for that — they come here for dietary needs and food allergies. And I love custom orders — it’s fun.” {%pc-4009527%}

Pan-roasted Steelhead

Zydeco Kitchen & Cocktails

For a meal that is as healthy as it is elegant, try the pan-roasted steelhead from Zydeco in Bend.

Oregon Coast steelhead is pan-seared with the skin on and finished in the oven. It’s served over red and white quinoa cooked with green lentils and sweet potatoes, plus asparagus (or whatever veggies are in season) and topped with a simple sauce of lemon juice, capers, house-made seafood broth and butter. Olive oil can be substituted for butter in the sauce if desired.

Zydeco started serving steelhead with quinoa about a year ago. Considered a whole grain, quinoa is actually a seed from the South American Andes that is high in protein.

“People have really liked the quinoa, especially with the texture of the lentils being in there and the sweet potatoes as well. It has a nice color and flavor,” said general manager Alia Gahan.

Zydeco chefs make dishes from scratch using locally sourced ingredients as much as possible. The steelhead is bought directly from fishermen on the Oregon Coast.

“It doesn’t spend a lot of time in limbo with purveyors, so we get everything really fresh and really well sourced as well,” Gahan said.{%pc-4012863%}