[lynne]

What are you going to put on your menu that gives someone a healthy, tasty and innovative dish to try?

I'd like to see examples of a full plate -- veggies, starch and protein, sauce if used that is heart healthy, but pleasing to the eye and the palate.

PLease let us know if this is esisting or aspiring dish.

Those of you that are looking for such dishes -- what would you like to see?

[kokopuffs]

One dish I'd offer is homemade yogurt mixed with garlic, cucumbers, onions, tomatos, and a good pinch of saffron soaked in water on top.

Braised Cornish Game Hen.

Basmati Rice.

Hagen Daas Sorbet (okay, I'm lazy as to the dessert.)

Espresso coffee along side of which a Perruquet sugar cube to be dipped in eau-de-vie and sucked. Seriously a dramatic finish to a great, healthy meal!

[chiffonade]

For catering purposes and sometimes at our restaurant, we would offer the following:

Grilled Veggie Platter...
Grilled sweet potatoes, red pepper, zucchini, plum tomatoes, eggplant, etc. accompanied by hummus and a serving of brown rice (that had brunoise of aromatics, etc. sauteed in it). Maybe a slice of crusty rustic bread as well.

For carnivores like me, any marinated grilled chicken breast NOT cooked to death (big problem with breast) or thinly sliced boneless pork chop would be good with the veggies and rice.

[Peachcreek]

I make a lot of vegetarian soups. On our menu everyday we have usually 2-3 vegetarian soups, and 2 vegan soups. Not all soups are low-fat, but I have at least 1 vegan-no fat soup everyday. Here is a sample of my veggie and vegan soups this week:

legend:
1. Vegetarian, high fat
2. Vegetarian low fat
3. Vegan high fat
4. Vegan no or very low fat.

Potato, tomato with saffron 4
Lemon pepper split pea 4
Apple with smoked cheddar 1
Hungarian mushroom 1
Hells' Veggies 4
Spicy corn and beans 4
European Cheeses 1.
Very Vegan Veggie 3
Thai veggie 3
Spicy yam with black bean 4
Tomato veggie with acini 4
Dilled leek 1
Chestnut with wild rice 1
Tomato pesto 2

You can come in and get a vegan, fat-free meal any day of the week. I do have a clientele that appreciate the choice. Don't worry. I sell my share of big drippy meat-and-cheese loaded sandwiches with ounces, not grams of fat....
BTW- I also sell sensible meat soups too. Oxtail is a huge seller, along with chicken noodle and the rest....

[monpetitchoux]

At the risk of blowing my anonymity:

Winter fruit salad
Segments of citrus fruits and mango, Vanilla and ginger consomme, Kaffir lime leaf gelee, gauva sorbet and tea-infused dates. I love this dessert because every spoonful offers a new taste and sensation. It's absolutely fat-free with very little added sugar. Citrus fruits are at their glory right now. We are using honey and fairchild tangerines, sweet orange, ruby grapefruit, blood orange, tangelo, lime and meyer lemon tidbits in the salad. Each fruit is supremed carefully to minimize juice leaching. It's also high in fiber.

Orange Blossom "Cocktail"
Orange blossom honey granite, grapefruit sorbet, Earl Grey and citrus sauce, Orange Almond Lace. This dessert was absolutely fabulous. But few customers orderd it. But of the few who did, all of them gave rave reviews. Only the orange almond lace had butter. Otherwise, this dessert is also fat-free. We used Marshall's Farm Orange Blossom honey. It's the best orange blossom honey I've every tasted. The reason it's called a "cocktail" is because we serve it up in a martini glass.

Springtime
Lemon granite, strawberries macerated in sugar, lemon juice, black pepper and a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, Wild strawberry sorbet, light mint syrup, black pepper tuile. Obviously the olive oil and tuile provide some fat but it is minuscule. Again, a very delicious dessert. We had customers returning just to order this dessert. We took it off the menu when strawberries went out of season. Also served in a martini glass.

A Moment in Eden
Fruits of the moment, Refreshing mint and vanilla syrup, vanilla tapioca sorbet. This is a Summer version of the winter fruit salad but with much more exotic fruits including white and yellow peaches, mangos, fresh berries, star fruit, kiwi, and lychee (I pitted these and then stuffed them back into a half-shell). We put a few flecks of very finely minced Thai Bird chilis into the fruit so that sometimes you got a fleeting burst of heat. This was the most romantic dessert we ever thought up.

Coconut granite, trio of tropical sorbets (banana, papaya, passionfruit), fresh pineapple with coriander sauce, coconut tuile. The coriander is fresh, not coriander seed. So there is a surprising herbaceous aspect to this dessert. All of our sorbets are made in-house. The coconut granite may not qualify as low-cal, but it sure is delicious.

Jasmine tea granite, fresh grapefruit segments, Pear Sorbet, almond tuile. Not my favorite dessert because I have a hard time enjoying tea when it is sweetened. But this also falls into the low-fat arena. But it is an interesting use of tea.

If you want hot desserts, nothing beats a souffle. Fruit souffles can be low in fat (even fat-free if you don't count the butter used in buttering the ramekin) if they are based on fruit purees and lightened simply with meringue before being baked. One of my favorite is raspberry souffle served with raspberry and thyme sauce.

Hope you find these a nice end to a very healthy meal.