Student tips

Friday 30 September 2005

Here are some practical tips and suggestions that you might want to print off.

Make small changes across the board - the 'behind the scenes' approach - to help lots of customers and maintain sales
Choose ingredients and their proportions carefully because this can make a big difference to the nutritional content of a dish
Balance meals better by choosing healthy accompaniments
Healthy catering doesn't need to be more expensive ' use more starchy foods, for example more pasta and less meat sauce in lasagne. Use pulses instead of some of the meat in a casserole

Simple techniques can help reduce fat - for example, trim fat off meat, remove skin from poultry, only use a top pastry crust for pies
Don't serve too many fried foods and drain them well before serving
Use lower fat dairy products - they still provide as much calcium - for example, switch to semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, replace some mayonnaise in dressings with low-fat yoghurt
Cut down on saturated fat - for example, use olive or rapeseed oil for frying. Use a white vegetable fat instead of lard or butter for pastry
Let your customers decide if they want to add fat spreads, gravies, dressings and dessert toppings by serving them separately
Cut down on sugar - for example use dried or fresh fruit to sweeten dishes
Cut down on salt - for example use herbs or spices instead, experiment with recipes to cut down on salt without compromising taste, use lower salt convenience products

Offer more starchy foods - for example use thick cut bread for sandwiches, serve soup with a roll, use a greater proportion of pasta to meat sauce in dishes such as spaghetti bolognaise
Offer more fruit and vegetables ' for example, add vegetables to meat casseroles, always put a variety of fresh fruit on display and change the types you offer
Offer at least one portion of oily fish a week because oily fish is rich in the type of fats that are good for the heart