Recipe development can be creative and easy when commonly used substitutions are known with typical amounts that are equivalent to the traditional recipe. When special diet needs are required due to allergies or other chronic health issues many recipes may need to be modified or new ones created using the foods that are safe for the individual's diet needs.

 

Recipe development can also refer to industry or restaurant creation of new items to sell in quantity or on a menu. Unusual foods or less commonly used foods may be desirable to include in a product or restaurant menu to give a unique or ethnic or wholesome appearance or taste, or to increase phytonutrient content. School lunch programs in the U.S. are required to provide a certain percentage of fiber and whole grains within the daily meals.

 

Cafeteria or residential facilities may want to create special event recipes or modify traditional favorites for a holiday menu. Swallowing and chewing may become difficult after accidents, stroke or other aging related conditions, and pureeing and thickening foods and beverages may be required. Some foods may not adapt well to being blended or thickened and substitutes that are nutritionally equivalent would be required for the individuals.

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For more information:

• The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a service for locating a nutrition counselor near you at the website eatright.org: (eatright.org/find-an-expert)

• Diet and Nutrition Care Manual, provides menus for a range of special diets and other guidance which can be used for residential facilities or to provide to individuals; diet modifications for swallowing problems, dysphagia, are included, Becky Dorner (beckydorner.com)

• Foodservice Forum: Serving Up Better-for-You Meals, examples of food modifications by a wholesale food supplier, Today's Dietitian, (todaysdietitian.com).

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Posts with some of my recipe creations:

• G8. Cookies & Bean Soup, a discussion of recipe modification for gluten free baking and a few recipes, (effectivecare.info).

• G10. Nrf2 Promoting Foods, phytonutrient rich foods and a recipe created to use pomegranate peel which is an excellent source of many beneficial phytonutrients, (effectivecare.info).

• G13. Pomegranate, has more information about the history and health beneftis of pomegranate fruit and peel products. The leaves and flowers also have the nutritional benefits and having tried to grow a hardy species of pomegranate shrub, deer really love to eat pomegranate leaves, (effectivecare.info).

• ​Citrus peel and pomegranate peel can be used in medicinal jams and jellies if you don't overheat it by adding the canning process, I found. Freeze the jam to preserve it. Several variations of fruit/peel jams and a pomegranate juice jelly are included in this post which opens with a Citrus and Fig Marmalade Jam. (transcendingsquare.com)

• Structured Water Beverages provide our body fluid in a form that is more electrically compatible with health. And my glycine and other amino acid beverage mix, which I call "Cheerful Juice," might improve mood, less anxious and more cheerful, and it may help brain function, energy level and hair growth too! Structured Water - benefits and recipes - how to make it; water, hot beverages, Cheerful Juice glycine drink - but also pudding, sauces or soups! (deNutrients.Substack)

• Pudding is very healthy for beneficial species of gut microbes, and they can help promote a good mood by producing serotonin and butyrate and other short chain fatty acids. I have developed several pudding recipes. 

  • Cherry licorice tapioca/garbanzo flour pudding is delicious....in non-pomegranate related kitchen news. (deNutrients.Substack)

  • Minute Tapioca, thickened into a pie filling is in the center secition of this page along with basics about using starch to thicken sauces, puddings, or thicker pie fillings. Page: Butyrate, How Much?, (jenniferdepew.com) also discusses the need for zinc and resistant starch for our beneficial gut species. Bifidobacterium are in the group, and CoV era chimeric spike has been found to be directly harmful to that beneficial butyrate producing species. Shellfish, meats, and pumpkin seeds are some good zinc foods. That site has another page on Resistant Starch sources and one on Zinc and one on the Microbiome.​

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/Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./