How to Balance Health and Taste on Your Menu

Most diners say they’d like to eat more healthfully but they don’t want to sacrifice taste. It’s the old “have your cake and eat it, too” syndrome.

Most diners say they’d like to eat more healthfully but they don’t want to sacrifice taste. It’s the old “have your cake and eat it, too” syndrome. But for operators, these two desires may seem impossible to reconcile. Can you possibly make healthy menu changes that don’t compromise flavor?

The answer is a resounding “yes” if you change strategically and incrementally. Remember that small changes are the essence of revolution. Getting to a healthier menu is a journey, not a destination. Here are some things that you can do right off the bat:

• Reposition vegetables as the feature by offering daily special sides, just as you have daily special entrees.
• Make brown rice an option. Consider experimenting with a mixed rice pilaf with white, brown and wild rice or serve less-familiar whole grains like wild rice, farro, kasha, cracked wheat, bulgur and barley.
• Develop complete plates that take the emphasis off proteins. Other cultures and cuisines offer good models. Take a look at the Indian thali - there is no main course as the components—meat, legumes, vegetables, yogurt salad, rice and/or bread, pickles, relishes, sweets—have roughly equal weight. Indian flavors may not be appropriate for your operation, but you can borrow the idea of the thali in rethinking plate balance.
• Talk to your suppliers about fresh pre-cut product to add an extra healthy, flavor boost to your menu.

Excerpt from Restaurant Business Magazine’s November 2006 article, “How to Make a Healthier Menu.” Reprinted with permission of Ideal Media, LLC.