Planning your menu

You can make the biggest impact on improving your customers' health - while keeping your sales up - by making small changes throughout your menu. The alternative is to develop some new healthy specials. Or you might want to do a bit of both.

What you do is up to you - and your customers.

Why not ask your customers what they think? You could adapt our sample questionnaire, designed for a staff restaurant, for your own use or design your own from scratch. See the link at the end of this section.

When you're planning your menus, a simple and effective way to make them healthier is by changing the proportions.

Meals should be based on starchy foods. So make these the main part of the meal. They should make up about a third of the total diet.

There are lots of starchy foods to choose from, such as:
Bread, for example wheat, rye, maize (corn), chapatis, naan
Rice, for example white, brown, wild
Noodles
Pasta
Couscous
Bulgar wheat
Oatmeal
Maize meal, for example polenta, grits, tortillas
Millet flour
Pearl barley
Quinoa
Buckwheat
Breakfast cereals
Potatoes
Yams
Cassava

Serve bigger portions of these - and more fruit or vegetables. For example, use more pasta and veg and less meat sauce in your lasagne and make pizzas with a thicker base.

Wholegrain varieties are the healthiest choice because they are higher in fibre and contain more of several nutrients, but these aren't always popular choices.

Here are some practical suggestions for making meals healthier. You could use:

• extra vegetables, salads and bread with main dishes
• more pasta and less sauce in pasta dishes
• more rice and less curry or stir fry
• thicker bread for sandwiches
• more potato and less meat in shepherd's pie

And remember to give your customers the option of whether or not to add butter, mayonnaise or other dressings.

See Choosing and preparing food for more advice on getting the balance right. The link is at the end of this section.

Here are some examples of 'traditional' recipes and how you can make them 'healthier'.

Vegetable soup

How do the nutritional contents compare?

Lasagne

How do the nutritional contents compare?

Trifle

How do the nutritional contents compare?

Source of recipes: Catering for Health. A guide for teaching healthier catering practices. The Stationery Office, ISBN 0112430678, £5.00

Making your food healthier is not only good for your customers' health, but can also save you money.

Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

• Serve bigger portions of the cheaper starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, and smaller portions of the more expensive sauce
• Bulk out your meat stews, casseroles or sauces with vegetables and/or pulses
• Use smaller amounts of cheese for example when you are making sauces by choosing mature cheese such as Cheddar, or strong tasting cheese such as Parmesan
• Hard cheeses can be grated for sandwiches and salads, to reduce the amount you need
• Introduce oily fish recipes onto your menu. For example you could serve mackerel or sardines
• Always use seasonal vegetables and fruit. These are packed with vitamins and minerals but are also at their cheapest when they're in season. This is a simple way to change your menu regularly, which will also help keep your customers interested
• Use fats and oils sparingly
• Choose vegetable, rapeseed, or canola oil because these are cheap and nutritious
• Use non-stick frying pans where possible so you won't need to use as much fat
• Dry fry or dry roast spices without any fat
• Switch to semi-skimmed milk rather than full fat. You could also offer customers the option of skimmed milk. Use skimmed milk in recipes – it's cheaper, lasts longer and is lower in fat
• Offer your customers the option of adding butter, low-fat spreads, mayonnaise, salad dressings, dessert toppings and gravy, rather than adding these automatically