The National Restaurant Association just released its annual “What’s Hot” Chefs’ Survey, and for the third year in a row, whole grains figure prominently.

Quinoa was named the hottest trend in side dishes, with brown / wild rice following in third place and buckwheat closing things out in fifth place. Ancient grains (e.g. Kamut®, spelt, amaranth) garnered third place in the Other Ingredients category. 

Perhaps even more gratifying, the survey confirmed the growing realization that nutritious and delicious can happily co-exist, by rating nutrition and whole foods highly in the top 20 overall trends:

#6 Nutritionally-balanced children’s dishes
#15 Nutrition / health
#16 Simplicity / back to basics

Gluten-free foods were also named as a top trend, at 9th place overall in the Top 20 Trends. The Whole Grains Council remains committed to providing resources to the GF community, and to constantly reminding everyone that gluten-free does not mean grain free. Getting the full nutrition of whole grains is even more important for people on restricted diets.

The NRA’s Chefs’ Survey interiewed more than 1,800 American Culinary Federation chefs, who were asked to rate 214 items on how trendy they would be in 2010. Click here to download and read the full Chefs’ Survey (3MB PDF)
(Cindy)