I went out for lunch with a friend yesterday and he suggested California Pizza Kitchen. I was skeptical since I didn't think I'd be able to find anything healthy, but I checked out the website in advance and I thought I'd get the grilled vegetable salad w/ grilled chicken:

Grilled asparagus, Japanese eggplant, zucchini, green onions and roasted corn, served warm over a bed of chilled Romaine lettuce, fresh avocado and sun-dried tomatoes in a Dijon balsamic vinaigrette. Tossed upon request. Also available with grilled chicken breast, sautéed salmon or grilled shrimp.

So then I checked out the nutritional information. 1044 calories!!!! How is this possible?? So I cut it down to a half portion, got grilled shrimp instead of chicken (a few less calories), and requested the fat-free balsamic vinaigrette. This cut it down to 511 calories (maybe a few less, because the fat-free dressing wasn't accounted for on their menu), but still a lot more than I thought it would be. It was absolutely delicious so it was worth it, but what the heck is in that salad that makes the calorie count so high?? Thank goodness I checked it out beforehand, because something so loaded with vegetables seems like it would be a reasonable calorie count. This was SHOCKING to me!!!!

Restaurants use a lot of oil/butter when cooking things, things that you wouldn't use that much fat on at home. I bet those grilled vegetables were dripping in oil before going on the grill. Same thing with the chicken, I bet it was smothered in fat before being cooked. Dressings can be ridiculously high in calories too (fat and added sugars.)

As strange as it sounds, salads are somewhat notorious for being higher in calories then you'd think. I tend to avoid salads unless they are small and I can request that things like cheese, bacon, croutons be removed. I use very little dressing.

Good job on halving the portion and making it work!

and corn is dense in calories anyway...can you figure out how much corn was on the salad?

At first glance I see avocado & corn, which are a little higher in calories than the other items, and veggies that were likely grilled in oil. Also, looks like this includes the dressing, so that is a chunk of it right there. I see on the website that the base salad is 810, goes to 1040 (salmon), 906 (shrimp) & 1044 (chicken) with the meat addition. That sound like it is a large meat serving for a salad, and it is also likely cooked with some oil.
Things sneak right up on you, even when it looks like something that looks healthy. Good for you for checking, and for skipping the high fat dressing!

Amazing, ain't it? Great job planning ahead and finding a way to make it work for you!

Avocados and sundried tomotoes. They are both high in calories. Corn is pretty high in calories as well. I am guessing it either came with a lot of shrimp, it it was cooking in oil or butter. Salads are definitely something you have to keep and eye on. Calories can add up quickly. Kudos to you for checking it out beforehand.

It's a shame too... because they could make a tasy salad without all the oil. It just goes to show that you never really know by guessing, something I've done so many times.

I'm glad you came up with a solution, sounds like a good tasing one at that