A recipe for culinary success — Northern Westchester wins Northwell Health’s 2021 Chefs Challenge

Each year at Northwell Health, we host the Chefs Challenge, where our chefs and their team members collaborate and create unique, healthy dishes that may be offered to their patients in the near future.

This year six Northwell Health hospitals recently competed in the 2021 Chefs Challenge at Glen Cove Hospital. Chefs, cooks and registered dieticians assembled to prepare healthy and delicious three-course meals within five hours — and using an assigned set of ingredients, in the style of an Iron Chef competition!

Northern Westchester Hospital was awarded first place in the competition. The winning menu included a butternut squash and shrimp wonton appetizer; entrée of braised lamb osso buco (shank) with spring vegetables, Yukon gold potato and slow-roasted cherry tomato; and caramelized pineapple upside-down cake dessert. South Shore University Hospital placed second, with a menu featuring butternut squash noodles carbonara, and Lenox Hill Hospital, whose meal included an herb and pistachio crusted rack of lamb, placed third.

Why join our culinary team?

When people consider hospital dishes, they usually don’t picture restaurant-quality three–course meals. Northwell Health believes in redefining hospital food because food is medicine, and our culinary departments strive to provide patients with the same level of nutritional care as the clinical care they receive altogether.

Our culinary department and chefs raise the standard of hospital food by designing meals with fresh ingredients, including herbs and vegetables harvested from Northwell Health’s gardens. Northern Westchester donates food from its recently opened wellness garden to discharged patients leaving who are food insecure or vulnerable, while Lenox Hill’s Victory Greens garden is New York City’s only hospital-based, organic rooftop garden.

In addition, our teaching kitchens partner chefs and registered dietitians together to share healthy recipes, basic culinary skills and nutrition education with team members and patients.

At Northwell, we believe food has the power to heal. Learn more about our culinary careers.

Meeting our winning teams and their menus.

First place: Northern Westchester Hospital

Appetizer: Butternut Squash and Shrimp Wontons

Entrée: Braised Lamb Shank Osso Buco with Spring Vegetables, Yukon Gold Potato and Slow-Roasted Cherry Tomato

Dessert: Caramelized Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with Cardamom Honey-Yogurt Sauce and Crystallized Pineapple

Second Place: South Shore University Hospital (SSUH)

Appetizer: Butternut Squash Noodles Carbonara

Entrée: Cider Mustard Lamb Chop with Polenta Spinach and Rutabaga Puree

Dessert: Caramel Cappuccino “Cup of Joe”

Third Place: Lenox Hill Hospital

Appetizer: Butternut Squash Risotto with Squash Medley and Coulis

Entrée: Herb and Pistachio Crusted Grass-Fed Rack of Lamb with Ratatouille-Stuffed Tomato and Pepper with Mint Couscous

Dessert: Caramel Coconut Ice Cream with Banana Brûlée and Coconut Cookie