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May
19, 2005
Prairie
Fare: Planning Menus that Get Compliments
By
Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist
NDSU Extension Service
Imagine this: You’re
in charge of planning the food for your parents’ wedding anniversary.
It’s a backyard barbecue. “I can do that, no problem,”
you think.
Then you ponder the
last menu you planned for an indoor family gathering. The meal featured
mashed potatoes, chicken breasts, cauliflower and apple crisp with a whipped
topping.
The food tasted great
and was ready at the right time, but people teased you a bit about everything
being in “brown and white.” Thinking back, not only did the
menu lack color, but everything was hot and soft-textured, too.
This time will be
different. “I’m going to follow some menu planning rules,”
you think.
Maybe this scenario
has never happened to you. Most of us plan menus on a small scale almost
daily. Any time you decide on food for a meal, for one or 100, you’re
doing menu planning.
With spring and summer
celebrations, such as weddings, anniversaries, family reunions and other
celebrations, the need for menu planning rises on the priority list. Variety
is the key when planning menus. Variety also is key when it comes to good
nutrition.
Bland, colorless foods
aren’t too appealing to the palate or the eye. Other common mistakes
include having too many strong flavors, repeating the same food in more
than one dish, having too sweet foods or too many sour foods, having too
many crunchy foods or too many soft foods, and serving all hot or cold
foods.
Here are some things
to consider when planning menus:
- Choose a variety
of flavors, but choose dishes that enhance each other. Aim for a signature
item with complementary side dishes. Maybe the signature item is superbly
spiced grilled chicken.
- Choose a variety
of colorful foods for your menu. Potatoes and cauliflower certainly
can be served in the same menu, for example, but include some color
and texture differences by sprinkling chives on the potato and serving
a green tossed salad with slivers of carrots and red cabbage. Not only
is colorful food pleasing to view, but colorful fruits and vegetables
are loaded with plant chemicals called “phytochemicals,”
which serve many protective functions in the body.
- Serve foods that
vary in temperature. Serving all hot or cold foods may be the only option
in some situations, depending on what equipment is available. Keep in
mind that “hot foods” need to be kept piping hot. The rule
is to keep food above 140 degrees once it’s been heated to its
recommended safe internal temperature. Cold foods should be kept below
41 degrees. Lukewarm “hot” or “cold” foods usually
aren’t palatable and they may not be safe.
- Consider the shape
of your menu items. Consider some cubes, sticks and balls as possibilities.
For example, a cheeseball, round crackers, meatballs, grapes and olives
may be tasty appetizers that vary in color, but don’t vary in
shape.
- Add some texture
to your menu. Try to include some crunchy and some soft items for variety.
- Here’s a
colorful main-dish salad that includes crisp and soft colorful fruit
and crunchy nuts. Enjoy it with warm French bread, warm rhubarb crisp
with ice cream and low-fat milk or iced tea for a tasty summer menu.
Grilled
Chicken and Fruit Salad
2 Tbsp.
reduced-fat mayonnaise or salad dressing
2/3 c. nonfat plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. orange juice
Combine
above ingredients and chill.
1 large
red apple, diced
2 c. grilled chicken breast, chilled and chopped
1/2 c. diced celery
1 11-oz. can mandarin oranges, drained
1 c. seedless grapes (red or green), slice in half if large
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Combine
ingredients. Add salad dressing mixture, gently blend and chill. Sprinkle
top with nuts just before serving.
Makes
4 servings. Each serving has 262 calories, 12.6 grams of fat, 29 grams
of carbohydrate and 3.9 of grams fiber.
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Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu
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