As Mater’s Dietetics and Food Services team continues to work on providing contemporary, delicious and healthy options to patients staying in hospital, last week the team celebrated #MeatFreeWeek!
With a focus on health and environmental benefits of eating meat-free, the Mater chefs have perfected a number of plant-based recipe options already available on our general patient menus, including veggie burgers, vegetarian pizzas, vegetable Asian stir-fries, and sweet potato and pumpkin tart.
Coming soon to the menus are some speciality dishes from the chefs including Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower with Black Bean Salsa, and Salted Vegetable and Poached Egg Salad.
Director Dietetics and Food Services Sally McCray said the team has been working together to provide options for patients that meet their individual dietary requirements and encourage healthy eating.
“The goal of Dietetics and Food Services has always been to deliver high quality, nutritious and contemporary meals to our patients, providing the best hospital food service in the country,” Sally said.
“We have seen an increase in the popularity of plant-based diets, and with our focus on providing healthy, environmentally-beneficial dishes to our patients, we have created a number of great new meat-free dishes.”
“Our chefs have curated some fantastic combinations that are sure to a big hit with people who have specific dietary requirements, prefer to eat meat-free, or those who are simply looking to try something interesting and new.”
The team’s focus on building out their plant-based options comes off the back of Mater Health Executive Chef Aman Marwah and the team recently named as finalists in the USA Association for Healthcare Food Service 2020 Culinary Showcase Competition.
Presenting a delicious Mediterranean-style Grilled Eggplant with roasted pepper yoghurt and heirloom tomato, cucumber, pomegranate salad with a maple dressing, the chefs were listed as one of only five finalists in these awards and were the only team to submit a plant-based/meat-free recipe.
Executive Chef Aman Marwah said the recipe was carefully curated with Mater’s dietitian team to meet the nutritional needs of patients, and offered a contemporary, light and healthy, vegetarian meal option.
“It has been my goal to meet the growing trend of plant-based diets and vegetarian and vegan preferences by offering more diverse menu options to our patients while meeting their dietary requirements,” Aman said.
Meat Free Week is an initiative supported by Bowel Cancer Australia and runs throughout September every year, encouraging people to think and talk about meat consumption and the impact it has on health. For more information, visit: meatfreeweek.org/about
Pictured: Executive Chef Aman Marwah.