Choosing Healthy Foods

Hi everyone! Campus Executive Chef Tom Barton here. Last night we had the first session of our nine week Cooking 101 class -- and we had a blast! Our ten lucky students joined Northeastern Dining's Nutritionist Christine Clark, Quality Assurance Manager Chris Jennings, and myself for a lot of great interactive discussions. Our first class was a bit of an introduction to the course - just as most first classes are - but we did have some lively discussions about nutrition, building your pantry, and menu planning. We also compared a few store brand products with national brands and showed that a well-known brand name (with brand name pricing) doesn't necessarily mean you can't find the same, or better, flavor from a store brand. I also really enjoyed the initial discussion we had about building flavors and plate design. Christine gave us some very useful tips on reading food labels and some great things to think about when menu planning and shopping. Many thanks to Christine a

Currently, there is a ton of information being spread about gluten-free diets. Are they healthier? What is celiac disease? Should I remove gluten from my diet? These are questions I often get. Grain products seem to be the latest food that people are trying to avoid. Some people are not able to eat grain products because of a wheat intolerance or because they have celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune digestive disease that with the intake of gluten-containing products damages the villi of the small intestine. When the villi are damaged, there is a decrease in the absorption of valuable nutrients from any foods ingested - whether they have gluten or not! People diagnosed with celiac disease should strictly avoid gluten, which is the protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. These days, it seems that many people are blaming the gluten in foods for an upset stomach, bloating, pain, as well as other ailments. It is important to avoid self-diagnosis and to always consult with

As I write this post, I am getting ready to send the truck back out on campus to roll out our winter offerings. In my last post on the history of food trucks , I said that in this post I would discuss the future of food trucks. However, there are more timely things to discuss and I would like to instead use this post to provide a peek into the exciting world of menu creation and what kind of factors we take into consideration throughout the menu planning process for the Hungry Hungry Husky. Now when one thinks of creating menus, they may think chefs spend hours in the kitchen experimenting with different ingredients and getting their creative juices flowing. This would be true, but before that there are other things we as chefs need to consider. One of the most important things to consider is convenience to the customer – lunch is a great example. During the busy school/work week, customers don't have time to sit down and enjoy a leisurely meal. This is especially true for food tru