Veggie Tales

Joanna Lefebvre

Sister Maureen Schrimpe, IHM, FMP
Quality Coordinator and Dietitian
University of Maryland
College Park, MD

"About four years ago we discovered a need for meatless items in our dining halls. We started a vegetarian advisory board which includes myself, the director of Dining Services, Dining Services staff, the student nutritionist, and vegetarian and vegan students living and eating on campus.

"Together we developed a serving station called Sprouts at The Diner in Ellicott Community. It's a total vegan concept that serves strictly vegan cuisine. We have at least 28 different dinners to choose between such as a rice, tomato and chickpea casserole, a vegetarian ratatouille or a roasted vegetable sandwich. Our most popular dish is the spinach ravioli, which successfully holds its own against even meat items. We've had a lot of success in the past three years that Sprouts has been open and we usually serves at least 300 meals for dinner."

Orlando Ramos
Executive chef
New York University Medical Center
New York, NY

"Vegetarian is always a crowd pleaser. The colors and the spices we use are a nice compliment to meatless entrèes.

"We make curried vegetables by dicing zucchini, squash, eggplant, peppers, onion and garlic together. First, the onions and garlic are sautèed, then curry powder is blended in and cooked briefly before the other vegetables are added. After the mixture is cooled down, it's spooned in 11/2 inch pastry cups to be served at room temperature as passed hors d'oeuveres. For another dishes we take a Vedalia onion, rub olive oil and garlic on it, wrap it in aluminum foil and slow roast it. It comes out soft and sweet. Sometimes we take tomatoes and stuff them with couscous and fresh vegetables and serve it as an appetizer."