Less meat, more plant-based meals on hospital menus

SAN DIEGO — It was a bit surreal at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido on Thursday and Friday.

A group of hospital chefs gathered to learn the secrets of vegan cooking from a Texan with a supple Southern drawl.

As part of a program sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, University of North Texas chef Wanda White guided peers from many of San Diego County’s health systems through a range of recipes that included coconut brown rice with baked tofu, kale and potato enchiladas and garbanzo bean sliders with caramelized onions.

White recently gained notice for adopting an all-vegan menu at one of her university’s dining halls. The conversion eventually won over students and locals in Denton, Texas, a city in the heart of cattle country that is home to the Red Angus Association of America.

The key to success was tweaking traditional recipes in ways that made them taste good and fresh, White said.

“When we started out, it wasn’t popular. But now we have outside people coming in. I took a beating, but I showed ’em all,” she said.

The chefs who gathered at Palomar this week were not necessarily novices in the ways of vegetarian cooking. Many work at facilities that have adopted the Humane Society’s “Meatless Mondays” campaign, which calls for institutions such as schools and hospitals to serve vegetarian fare on the first day of each week.

This week, many of the chefs said the recipes they prepared with White looking over their shoulders tasted good enough, and could be prepared on a large enough scale, to find a place on their menus soon.

“In the next few months, you’ll see a couple of the items that we made here on our menus, at least for the cafeteria,” said chef Mark Atkins, executive chef for Kaiser Permanente San Diego.

Atkins said he was especially impressed by the tofu scrambled eggs, which tasted like the real thing but were much healthier.

“They add a little turmeric to give the yellow color, and peppers. I really thought they were very good,” he said.

Others seemed fond of a bananas foster with caramel sauce made with soy milk instead of cream.

Jim Metzger, director of hospitality services for Palomar Health — which runs Palomar and Pomerado hospitals — said he’s considering White’s tofu stir fry and shepherd’s pie recipes. Patients should be able to order them in about 90 days, he said.