Plain vs. Breaded

I'm the type of person that usually concerns herself with taste and flavor more than calories but sometimes, it's really important to think about these things. Here's an example:

The tilapia on the left was simply pan fried in 1 teaspoon of olive oil.

• tilapia fillet = 300 calories
• 1 teaspoon olive oil = 30 calories
• TOTAL = 330 calories

The tilapia on the left is obviously breaded. The fillet was coated in flour, dipped in a beaten egg, and then rolled in panko breadcrumbs. To pan fry the breaded fillet, 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil were used to get that golden brown color. Less olive oil would have yielded a dry-looking breadcrumb coating.

• tilapia fillet = 300 calories
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil = 150 calories
• 1 tablespoon flour = 15 calories
• 1 tablespoon egg = 20 calories
• 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs = 30 calories
• TOTAL = 510 calories

When you're cooking at home, you can control the amount of each ingredient you use but when you eat at restaurants, the chef is usually going to do whatever it takes to make the food look and taste more appealing, which usually means more salt and fat. I'm not trying to be preach-y today. But currently, I'm trying to watch what I eat (because I'm going to Puerto Rico in November) so this is more of a message to myself... because I'm the type of person who would choose that breaded tilapia over the plain one in a heartbeat.