Healthy food has a bad reputation for being not delicious yet somewhat expensive. It’s quite a shame, really, because with the right mix of ingredients and flavors restaurants can have a healthy and mouth-watering menu.
Let’s take a look into what is technically considered “a healthy menu”. Healthy menus should include dishes that meet at least one of the following criteria: low in calories, low in fat (particularly saturated fat and absolutely no trans-fat), low in sodium, no additives or preservatives, fresh, and high in nutrition.
We recently worked with LYFE Kitchen team to develop their signature offerings, a menu that transformed comfort foods such as fried chicken, burgers, and pizzas into delectable, healthy dishes. Our challenge was to make each of these items under 600 calories, low sodium, still taste great, and be available at an affordable price. So we put on our thinking caps and jumped into the test kitchen.
Most Chefs know fat adds flavor, as does salt. Unfortunately, these are the two main culprits of an unhealthy meal. One of the keys to a healthy meal delicious is infusing a dish with lots of flavor instead of relying on extra fat and salt to do so. In the test kitchen, we experimented with a variety of aromatic herbs and spices to find unique combinations to bring out the best flavor profiles of the fresh ingredients themselves.Let’s take the classic fried chicken dish for example. How could something aspire to that level of deliciousness without being deep fried? In Chef Art Smith’s dish—aptly named Unfried Chicken,Unfried Chicken— the clever use of a buttermilk and hot sauce marinade and whole-wheat seasoned Panko breadcrumbs to coat skinless chicken breast, has made this dish a top seller at LYFE Kitchen.
But it doesn’t end there! What about healthy pizza? Yes, it’s possible, and LYFE Kitchen has it! One of the most popular pizzas featured here is the Margherita Flatbread, a pizza made with whole-wheat and flaxseed dough and topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, sweet cherry tomatoes, basil, and pomodoro sauce. Satisfying, healthy, and delicious. The strategic usage of different flavor pairings makes this dish another LYFE favorite.
In the end, the road to a successful healthy menu is continued experimentation with fresh ingredients, herbs and different seasonings in order to create a strong flavor foundation that will require less fat, salt, and sugar to make delicious. If you’re ready to take on this challenge and feel your restaurant needs a menu makeover, contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants, the menu development experts.