2 hospital chefs talk falafel, banh mis, and the contest changing hospital food
Health Care Culinary Contest heats up in time for Food Day
Hospital chefs are serving up solutions to pressing social and environmental issues through plant-forward cooking. The Health Care Culinary Contest aims to elevate these efforts by giving chef competitors like UW Health and NYU Langone an opportunity to showcase their creativity and change the way we eat.
Plant-forward meal options have risen in popularity; according to Neilson, 40% of Americans are striving to eat more plants. Chefs — including those working in health care facilities — are creating recipes that satisfy customers, increase sales, and are healthy for people and the planet.
From improving our health and nutrition to alleviating world hunger and reducing greenhouse gas emissions plant-forward eating has a multitude of benefits. And, it tastes great.
Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth have teamed up with Menus of Change, an initiative of The Culinary Institute of America and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to judge recipe applicants and crown a winner at the 2020 CleanMed Conference May 12–14 in Orlando. The contest closes Nov. 30.
Healthy and sustainable diets continue to play a role in nourishing people and the planet. In celebration of World Food Day, meet two of our top competitors and learn about the recipes they are creating for the contest and how their work is enriching food culture at their facilities and pioneering opportunities for plant-forward eating.
40+ countries, endless inspiration
UW Health in Wisconsin
“Customers have been vocal with their desire for more plant-forward options when they come to our cafeteria.” — Lisa Boté, UW Health manager of culinary services
UW Health embraces the flavors and wisdom from culinary traditions around the world. A Practice Greenhealth member, UW Health, is also a Cool Food Pledge signatory, working to reduce their food-related greenhouse gas emissions and tie their health-promoting, plant-centered meal efforts to climate change. Thirty-five facilities signed on so far to reduce their collective emissions from food purchasing.
1. What inspired your recipe?
Our staff provides the inspiration for many of our recipes. We host an international food festival so that our culinary staff can prepare and share food that they grew up eating. It’s a day when staff and guests can try foods from around the world. Our staff comes from more than 40 countries.
2. What does plant-forward mean to you? How do you bring this philosophy to your kitchen?
We’ve done the research; we understand the environmental impact that an organization of our size has on food systems. We want to be responsible with our resources and at the same time deliver beautiful and nutritious, great-tasting plates of food for our customers and patients. Many of us had already been eating less meat and customers have been vocal with their desire for more plant-forward options when they come to our cafeteria. The decision to incorporate more plant-forward options was an easy decision to make.
3. Tell us more about the sustainable ingredients you chose.
Our falafel is inspired by one of our Egyptian-born staff. Madiha Hassan has made this recipe for our salad bar over the years, and customers frequently ask when we’re serving “Madiha’s falafel.” Hassan’s classic recipe always starts with dried chickpeas. We add a punch of balanced flavor with seasonal and locally grown items, including parsley, cilantro, tomato, onion, cucumber, eggs, feta, and green onion. We like chickpeas for the protein they provide along with fiber, which we can all use. We also like chickpeas for the vitamins and additional health benefits they bring.
4. What excites you about chefs reimagining health care food?
I think that hospital food is going through a change like what happened in Las Vegas in the ’90s. Las Vegas used to be known for mediocre all-you-can-eat buffets, but now every hotel has celebrity chef restaurants and it’s a real happening food scene. There’s a lot of creativity. In health care food service, we can change — and are changing — the way people think of hospital food. Food can help in so many ways, especially when you’re not well. Hospital food should be nutritious, delicious, creative, and food that people want to eat. That’s our goal.
A classic sandwich with plant slant
NYU Langone Health in New York
“I’d like to think of this recipe as a gateway for people to be more adventurous in trying and integrating more plant-based recipes into their lifestyle.” — Jeffrey Held, NYU Langone Health chef
NYU Langone, a Practice Greenhealth member, has extended its climate mitigation efforts to its food service. Chef Jeffrey Held uses advanced and everyday cooking techniques such as braising, cooking in small batches, and relying heavily on fresh herbs and spices to create meals that meet the growing demand of patrons for plant-forward meal options. Held is a Culinary Institute of America alumnus and exemplary of a growing number of chefs who are discovering successful careers — and some acclaim — outside of the restaurant and hospitality industry.
What inspired your recipe?
Here at NYU Langone Health, we love to innovate and test interesting plant-based recipes. This is why all of our menus — for patients, retail cafes, and internal catering — have several plant-forward options. This recipe is a take on a classic sandwich that is both nutritious for our patients and easy to recreate by staff and guests at home. It gets its flavors and varied textures from the toasted fresh nut butter in lieu of traditional sliced meats. I’d like to think of this recipe as a gateway for people to be more adventurous in trying and integrating more plant-based recipes into their lifestyle.
What does plant-forward mean to you? How do you bring this philosophy to your kitchen?
Food is medicine. This is why it is incredibly important to put our best foot forward in how we prepare and cook our dishes, what ingredients we use, and where we source our produce. Plant-forward cooking brings together all of these elements and is practiced in our kitchen.
Over the past five years, we have focused on cooking from scratch and relying heavily on fresh herbs and spices. We also use vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and nuts as a base for all of our cooking. We rely less on beef and pork as a center-plate item and limit them to smaller portions. Our kitchen also uses complex cooking techniques like braising to concentrate flavors and focuses more on making soups, stocks, sauces, and dressings. We give the same level of attention to all ingredients and cook our vegetables in small batches so they stay fresh and colorful. The continuous feedback from our employees asking for more interesting plant-forward options inspires and motivates our kitchen to innovate more.
Tell us more about the sustainable ingredients you chose.
In this recipe, we used watermelon radishes and cucumbers from Taproot Farms in Shoemakersville, Pa., which is located less than 120 miles from our campus. This produce is not only locally sourced and USDA Certified Organic, but it is also an extension of our staff community-supported agriculture (CSA) program with our partner Local Roots NYC. Through this partnership, we are able to purchase unused shares each week, accessing hundreds of pounds of fresh produce. This allows us to access seasonal produce that is locally sourced and sustainably grown throughout the year. Our food and nutrition services team hosts a weekly farmers market utilizing our CSA produce and also incorporates it into our café menus.
It is not always easy to incorporate local producers and farmers into institutional cooking and we are proud to have forged relationships with our community along the way. They are not always able to supply us with the volumes we need, but we are able to incorporate them in small ways and use them as much as possible in our cooking.
What excites you about chefs reimagining health care food?
I am ecstatic to be a part of some major shifts in how institutional health care views and sources food. People are finally starting to see food as an important part of recovery and overall health and wellness. In the near future, I believe we are going to see innovative and inspiring change that will put this conversation into action.
I am proud to be a part of several initiatives that reduce non-therapeutic antibiotics in meat and in poultry and meat purchases in general. In fact, we are proud to say that all of the fresh poultry purchased for our main campus is produced without routine antibiotics. We purchase chicken that is raised and processed 145 miles away in Fredericksburg, Pa. But most of all, I am excited to collaborate and support other institutions to transform the way we see and speak about food in health care.
The contest is open now and runs through Nov. 30. We can’t wait to see what you create.
Learn more and submit your recipe at noharm.org/culinarycontest.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY; void where prohibited. U.S. residents only, 18+, who work for or in a health care institution. Ends 11/30/19. This is not a game of chance; winners selected based on Judging Criteria. See Official Rules for additional details. Sponsor: Health Care Without Harm U.S., 12355 Sunrise Valley Dr. Ste. 680, Reston, VA 20191.
