Restaurant Vegetarian Starter Kit

Step 1: Adapt the Recipes You Already Use

You can easily adapt your existing menu items to cut fat and cholesterol without sacrificing flavor.

• Use vegetable oil instead of animal fat for frying and sautéing.

• Use vegetable stock or commercially prepared vegetable broth in soups, sauces, rice dishes, and other recipes calling for beef or chicken broth.

• Offer a vegetarian soup daily. They are easily prepared, keep well, and make a satisfying meal when served with bread and a salad.

• Prepare bean or vegetable dishes, such as baked beans, chili, or sautéed vegetables, without meat or meat flavorings. These dishes will be popular with vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

• Offer pasta dishes with a meatless pasta sauce and prepare or purchase pasta without eggs.

• Replace cottage or ricotta cheese with crumbled tofu in lasagne or other dishes.

• Replace eggs in baked goods with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) of soft tofu, 1/3 cup of applesauce, or 1/3 cup of cooked pumpkin for each egg in your recipe. Half of a small mashed banana can also replace each egg and tastes great in pancakes and muffins. Commercially prepared substitutes such as Ener-G Egg Replacer (a mixture of potato starch, flour, and leavening) can also be used per package instructions. (If a recipe for baked goods calls for just one or two eggs, you can often skip them and add a couple of extra tablespoons of water for each egg eliminated to balance out the moisture content.) For vegetarian loaves or burgers, use mashed potatoes, fine bread crumbs, cooked rice or oatmeal, or tomato paste to bind ingredients. Diced or mashed tofu can replace chopped hard-boiled eggs in some salad and sandwich recipes. Scrambled tofu makes a delicious alternative to scrambled eggs.

• Replace milk with low-fat soymilk or rice milk, cup for cup in any recipe. To replace buttermilk, substitute each cup with 1 cup of soymilk or rice milk plus 1 tablespoon of vinegar. For yogurt in recipes, replace each cup with 3/4 cup of soymilk or rice milk plus 1 tablespoon of vinegar.

• Offer and use vegetable oil-based margarine instead of butter. Vegetable margarine or shortening can replace butter or lard in recipes.

• For fat-conscious patrons, offer hot vegetables without butter or margarine and serve a side of lemon wedges, hot sauce, vinegar, or even fat-free salad dressing instead.

• Offer low-fat or fat-free nondairy coffee creamer, soymilk, or rice milk for customers to use in their coffee.

• Prepare or purchase breads and rolls made without animal fat, eggs, or dairy products, and with little or no added fat.

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