Healthy food trends for 2016
Need to cater for an upcoming event but want healthy options? Trend forecasting shows that, when it comes to catered food, 2016 is a year of healthy eating.
Here are four of the top healthy foods trends to consider for your next big event:
- It’s pulse time: The UN has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses. Pulses are the seeds of dry crops – beans, dry peas, chickpeas, and lentils. Full of plant protein, they’re healthy and tasty. You can include these in their whole form or mix things up a bit. Think hummus and pulse flour rather than traditional white bread flour.
- More plants, please: Fill up your plate with the green and leafy. Not only are plants better for the environment, they can be healthier than eating meat products. And they don’t have to be boring. Replace green and Greek salads with fun food combinations like broccoli, toasted nuts, and cranberries. Spiralling of vegetables also continues to be a big trend – use ‘noodle’ vegetables such as butternut and beetroot to make salads much more interesting.
- Good old grains: Ancient grains have been popular for a while now – most of us are familiar with quinoa. Rich in fibre, vitamins, and nutrients, other healthy grains include teff, millet, amaranth, spelt, kamut, kaniwa, and freekeh. You can use them to replace pasta and rice dishes, or add them to salads for variety, bulk, and flavour.
- Dark, sweet treats: Black raspberries are the power fruit of 2016! Packed with antioxidants (they have three times as much as other berries) and delicious, raspberries can be used in any meal, from breakfast to salads, or as a sweet treat all on their own.
- Stick to the good fats: The Banting craze has taught us that fat is king so no more fat-free snacks. Back to natural and healthy foods. But be sure they’re the good fats – avocado, coconut oil, fatty fish like sardines, nuts, and full cream yogurt. And, to stay on the healthy side, keep an eye on portion size!