Teaching Incorporating Whole Grains across the Menu
01 February 2014
Healthy whole grains are hot all over the menu. But what diner wants to consume a simple bowl of them? Chef Renee Zonka explains how to teach students to look beyond oatmeal at breakfast to showcase whole grains in dish development in a whole new light.
By Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE
March is National Nutrition Month, and everyone’s talking whole grains these days as consumer interest in them soars. Many foodservice establishments, however, are still challenged with making whole grains not only palatable, but craveable.
Here are five flavorful ways you can teach students to incorporate whole-grain goodness into menus and elicit guest delight.
Brown: the New White
Brown rice is one of the most familiar whole grains to diners. Diehard white-rice lovers might rate brown rice as second fiddle, but they like the healthy halo brown rice carries. So here’s a tip for students: Replace part of the white rice in a pilaf or other side dish with brown rice. Doing so not only adds flavor and nutrition (such as fiber and magnesium, which are stripped from white rice during processing) to a dish, but also contrasting color.
Better-for-You Breakfast
Breakfast can be made more fun for diners by offering a smoothie with added whole grains. And smoothies are a perfect (and healthy) grab-and-go item for customers on the run. As an exercise, have students blend seasonal fresh fruits or berries and roasted chopped nuts or seeds into yogurt, and then fold in cooked oatmeal, teff or amaranth—or a whole-grain blend—and taste their creations. Explain that the addition of whole grain contributes body and flavor while delivering a longer-lasting feeling of fullness. Which translates to less snacking between meals.
Eggs, Oh So Easy
A perennial good seller at all dayparts, now more than ever, eggs are hatching new and innovative dishes all over the menu. Show students how to incorporate cooked wheat berries or kamut wheat into frittatas (see the link to my recipe for Kamut Wheat, Artichoke & Fresh-Tomato Frittatas below) for added dimension and menu interest, and to scrambled eggs, have them consider a spoonful or two of cooked quinoa, which enhances mouthfeel and flavor while lending an extra dash of color—red, black, white or all three. Explain to students how perceived value gets a boost from adding whole grains to eggs, meaning operators can charge a higher menu price for a dish that already benefits from the healthy profit contribution of an economical food.
Go Greek. And Make It Meatless
Among Mediterranean cuisines, favorite dishes from Greece are rising to the fore. Have students stuff grape leaves (dolmas), but tell them to make their dolmas vegetarian by replacing ground meat with cooked amaranth and brown rice with chopped onion and parsley, a touch of allspice and cinnamon, and raisins or chopped nuts. Wrap and braise in a savory vegetable stock. For a Greek-Mex-style grab ‘n’ go, spike a cooked whole-grain blend with crumbled feta cheese and a dollop of tzatziki and roll in a lightly grilled flour tortilla.
New Reverence for Risotto
Farro meets two menu trends that are increasing in demand among diners: ancient grains and heirloom ingredients. Americans are rediscovering farro, which is a perfect and delicious whole-grain replacement for Arborio and Carnaroli rice in risotto. Have students cook risotto as usual with flavorful broth and a little good-quality Parm (the boldness of aged cheeses means students don’t need to use much to impart a lot of flavor), and explain how diners will receive added health benefits they wouldn’t get with traditional risotto rices.
Resources for Teaching Whole Grains
The Boston-based Whole Grains Council (WGC), an Oldways program, has been working since 2003 to increase consumption of whole grains for better health, and in 2005 introduced the Whole Grain Stamp, now used on more than 9,200 products in 41 countries.
WGC wants to support everyone who's helping spread the word about the health benefits of whole grains, and to that end, offers several resources—some of them free to educational institutions—that are suitable for the classroom. (Some resources are also in Spanish.) The WGC website also offers recipes as inspiration. Visit wholegrainscouncil.org/resources/educational-materials for more info.
For more information on The School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College, visit www.kendall.edu.
Renee Zonka, RD, CEC, CHE, is dean of The School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College in Chicago.
Photo:This vegetarian, high-fiber frittata created by Renee Zonka, dean of the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, gets added mouthfeel dimension and elicits greater menu thanks to incorporation of whole-grain kamut wheat. Courtesy of Kendall College/Eric Futran