Transcription:
Getting to the Root of It – How to Use Fresh Local Ingredients

Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome to the Bryan Health podcast. I'm Caitlin Whyte and today we are talking about healthy eating with Chef Nasim Khan, the Executive Chef at Bryan Medical Center. Now Chef, typically when we think of hospital food, some people might think it's bland or boring, but tell us some of the things you've done at Bryan to promote healthy, delicious food in the cafeterias.

Nazim Khan, CEC, WCMC (Guest): Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I mean, hospital food people usually think is bland and boring food. Little background of me and I came from a hotel background. So, it's a Marriott and Hilton. And also, I also worked in a luxury brand like Red Skelton, Curio brand for Hilton and New York City and all those fine tuned food. I exercise pretty much every day when I was in hotels. So, when I moved into the hospital care and when you learn from a master to do the right thing, all the master chefs and stuff like that. So, you cannot just take a short cut. So, when I take this challenge as the hospital food, I said, okay, probably I cannot compromise with the ingredients.

So, ingredients gotta be hand-picked good one. And also, I don't like to use too many dry spices. If your products are unique and good quality product, you don't really cover up with the spices. So, I cut down all our dry parsley cilantro, dry chives and all those things. I said, you know we can get everything fresh. So, why we're not chopping the fresh herbs, not using the dry herbs.

So, let's start using the fresh herbs that enhance the flavor. And also we get our natural oil and flavor from it. So, we start working towards that. And then hospital, usually do like all frozen product, you know, comes in and you just heat and serve that kind of cafeteria and for the dietic perspective, you know, thought process that, hey, you know, patients, we have to be very careful, so keep it pretty much clean and plan so that we don't have to worry about it.

But these days, you know, everybody's a foodie, right? So, we need to make sure that they are enjoying what we are supporting them. We are not using like 40 different types of ingredients, but we are using a four to five different ingredients, but they're all burst with the flavor. So, it's like real good clean and flavorful food.

So, that's what I have changed. So, all the soup that we do it from scratch now, instead of buying a frozen one, because frozen one has lots of salt additives and all those things, but if you make it from scratch, then you don't have to do it. I had to create a Hassah plan for the health department because I make my own soup.

And also I bag them, cryovac freeze. So, that way they can pull and heat up. So, I had to create a Hassah plan for them. So, these are the things that sets a different tone than any other hospital. Or you can have a gourmet meal if your chef choose to. And everybody likes to see chef in actions doing a lot of new food, new ideas, new thought process and cooking from scratch is the key. And using the fresh ingredients is the key that will make the different than anybody else.

Host: Now you've rolled out plant-based food stations in the Bryan Health cafeterias. How did you get people to try that? I mean, what were some of their reactions?

Nazim: Right, right. And I came from, actually I born and raised in Bangladesh, it's a poor country, but it's still, I was in the I was a city boy, I was, I was in the capital city in Taka, but one of my teacher in school all is, is to say that, hey, lentil is the goat meat for the poor people. So, in the beginning, I did not really pay attention because goat meat is very expensive, more than a beef in Bangladesh or India and other places.

I said, why he's saying lentil is more, I mean, that's a poor man's goat meat? it's a lentil. But then throughout, when I grew up, then I realized that, oh my God, it's a great protein source. And that's why my teacher was saying, okay, that's the goat meat for poor people. And then throughout my work culture, you know, even I work in a high-end hotels and stuff in New York City, other places, anytime somebody come for a vegetarian meal or anybody is vegetarian, they just throw a pasta and tomato sauce. Pasta and tomato sauce don't have enough protein. So, why we're just giving just a tomato sauce and a pasta, even if it's a high end restaurant, even in a high end hotels, then I'd realized that, okay, we have lots of different type of veggie option, lentil option, legume options. You know why we're not putting a good flavor profile boost to it and start to our customer.

And then, you know, I'm like really into plant base. Okay. Let's do this. Let's use lentil, all kinds of lentil, you make it a burger patty out of it all. All Lentil you make it like we do called veggie Costa lentil Costa and lentil costa is Indian style. We make tikka masala sauce, beautiful basmati rice, and with the Costa and they love it.

So, instead of like beef or chicken or other protein we use completely bean and lentil and potato just bind it. So, when we rolled our plant-based stations in the cafeteria, so first of all, we, we live in Lincoln, Nebraska. It's a meat and potato country, right. Everybody even no my director says, chef, you know, you think they're going to eat, they're going to like this? I said, wait, let's see, you know, first we need to try. And then if they don't like it, we can always change. And he was a big fan of that. And then I said, okay, let's do it. So, when I start five days with the five plant base option meal and I was standing. And I was explaining the food and I said, try it first. Then if you don't like it, then you know, you don't have to eat it. I will buy you another lunch. So, then people started loving it. This is chef so flavorful and so filler why wouldn't like falafel with the tzatziki sauce and pita bread and nice cucumber and tomato salad is a huge meal with chick peas just grounded up and then deep fried, right?

That's the falafel. So, they love those. Then I do like taco tostadas, taco tostadas is just a tostada shell. And then with our plant-based protein, we make it with the Mexican spices and the guacamole, sour cream, corn, and bean salsa goes on top of that beautiful, tostadas. So they love that one too.

So we have, we always have a huge line for that. When I rolled it in the beginning couple of days, you know, just need to get into it. And now everybody loves it. And my plant base is very successful. Also, I was, I got recognized from Food Service Director Magazine, Food Management Magazine, and also I got recognized for my plant based service internationally from Ward Chef Associations in Paris. Their November edition. They also write what a great job I'm doing with the plant base, you know, serving in a hospital.

Host: Part of your mission is really promoting shopping and buying local. Tell us a bit about not only the health, but the community benefits from eating locally grown produce.

Nazim: Yeah. First of all, we need to see where the food coming from. Right. But working with Chef George McNeill, certified master chef in New York City, also chef certified master chef, Chef Jock. And I always seen them, you know, they're very particular about their product line. You know, if microgreens gotta be exactly like that. If I ask you to get the fish is going to look like that. And when you work with those talented chef and learn from it and work with them side by side, you always try to pick the best. In the beginning. I already talked about it. So, and locally grown like food to tables in the tables, farms to table is a huge theme for Hilton and Marriott and farms to table, you know, we already was using 50 mile radius, you know, whoever has the farm where we using all the fresh ingredients. So, I got used to locally resourced food. So, when I came to Bryan Health, you know, we are all commercially bought product through Cisco or US Food, but then I said, we have a farmers, you know, of course, winter time, we're not doing anything, but in the summer time they plenty of product that we can buy locally. And our cheese is great, local cheese and also I visited several farms. Then I become a Nebraska Food Council Member and connected with all the farmers and then is get to see those product grown and so refreshing and packed with the macro nutrients that you're getting from locally resourced food, but anythings that you are buying like from different places, but that has a preservative. That the way they keep it. Is not like fresh and crisp the way you want it. But locally food will do that. And at the same time it's supporting your local farmers. So, that means it helps you, your local community economies are going to grow up better too. So, you're supporting each other and grow from there. And also I do a farmer's market demo too. So, that way I can pick a farmer, say that, hey, you can buy these zucchini. You know, he just don't have only one way to eat zucchini. He got thousands ways to eat zucchini so he can transform them this way and that way.

So, that way people get educated too. And then you built a great community. You know, all those things happen. You know, when you buy local, when you support local and you get your local food and at the same time, it's a great tasty and you know how they are growing.

Host: Absolutely well, I'm a farmer's market girl myself. So, I agree with you on that one. You know, for the rest of us, non chefs though, cooking can be really intimidating and time consuming. What are some tips you have to make meal prep easier and more enjoyable?

Nazim: Okay. I always tell even my cook or any friends, family, I always tell people, you know, as a chef, you know, we don't build rocket. You know, we cannot actually build a rocket. So, we just cook food. Key ingredients to become a good cook or good chef, you need to have a good planning and organizational skill. So, in French word, they call it mise en place. mise en place means everything in place. So, what does that tell you? If you making a chicken noodle soup, you're going to need chicken. You're going to need noodle. You're going to need celery, carrots, onion, a little garlic, fresh parsley. All those things and water, everything's gotta be in front of you, organized before you start your chicken noodle soup. So, if you start and things are not in front of you organized, they need just going to run around like chicken with the head cut off and then looking for stuff, and then you cannot find it, get frustrated.

And then you're not going to really enjoy the meal. So, first you plan the menu and then, okay, this is what I'm going to do. And this is what I'm going to, I'm going to need. And this is what is going to happen. Same thing, like, you know, planning in your like daily meal, weekly meal plan and all those things, if you organize well, and then if you create a shopping list and then if you go to a grocery, so you buy that exactly what you plan on the menu, right?

If you don't plan. Then you go, oh, I like this tomato. Let me buy that. I like the zucchini. Let me buy that. Then you, your fridge is full, but then you don't know what are you making with that. Then it's sitting and going bad and you're throwing into the trash. So, that is the no-no. So, you need to organize your planning menu and then you need to organize your shopping list, shopping cart, get it organized.

Cook it. And then when is your cooler empty, then you go back to do these things again. And a couple of cooking tips that, you know, food safety is very first we need to remember that means hot food, we have to eat hot or cook hot, keep it hot or cold food, we have to keep it cold below 40 degree temperature, hot food 135 degree Fahrenheit temperature, chicken, 165 of Fahrenheit.

So, it's safe to eat. So, those are the key ingredients you need to know and a couple of things. I like anything that you cook or finish your meal with Monte are some good, good local butter, you know, that will help, you know, nice flavor. I like lemon zest a lot. So, you know, you always can zest a lemon and finish up your salad or salad dressing, dressing, or even in a sauce.

And then clean, organized kitchen that I always tell people, and that will make your life easier and enjoyable. And another thing I always tell people like, have your kids, have your spouse or your significant other cook it together and have fun and then interact and that, and you know, kids don't like to eat veggies, right.

But if you bring them in, in your cooking, like making nice pizza, have them to add their own choice of veggies, have them to create a beautiful piece of design on top of top of that with their veggies. So, these are the things is family cooking together. It's always enjoyable and always people like it. And then if something goes wrong, then you learn from it and then you fix it again in the right way.

Host: Well, it's always great to get some meal tips. I'll definitely be trying some of these out at home. And that wraps up this episode of the Bryan Health Podcast. Head on over to our website at bryanhealth.org for more information, and to get connected with one of our providers. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all of the other Bryan Health podcasts. I'm Cailtin Whyte. Stay well.