Author Archives: Ryan Conklin

Ryan Conklin is a Chef Manager for Culinary & Nutritional Services at Rex. His mission is to bring healthy, gourmet cuisine to the Rex community & shed the label of “hospital food.”

Thanks to everyone who came by the Courtyard Cafe this week to sample some of our whole grain dishes. What a success it was! We hope you can incorporate some of these delicious and healthy foods into your regular diet. So, without further ado, here are recipes for the two faves from this week:

Black Barley and Edamame Salad (serves eight)
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Ryan Conklin is a Chef Manager for Culinary & Nutritional Services at Rex. His mission is to bring healthy, gourmet cuisine to the Rex community & shed the label of “hospital food.”

5:00am- Raleigh North Carolina. Marjorie McPhail awakes to the sound of her alarm clock. After waiting in bed for an extra few minutes, she fully awakes…it’s time to go to work.

5:30am- Marjorie gets in her Honda, and proceeds onto the hustle and bustle of Raleigh’s outer belt line for her 20 minute commute. This is a daily routine for her, as she listens to her music and thinks about her busy workday ahead. “I usually am in my car, thinking about the food the chefs are cooking, I hope they make it look good for me”.

6:00am- The customers start rolling in. At first, it’s one by one, then as we creep more towards 7:00am, they start arriving in small groups. Read more…

Ryan Conklin is a Chef Manager for Culinary & Nutritional Services at Rex. His mission is to bring healthy, gourmet cuisine to the Rex community & shed the label of “hospital food.”

Back in January of 2003, I went on a brief trip back to Ireland, a place I had lived in previously and worked as a young aspiring chef. This time when I went “across the pond”, it wasn’t to cook. I was eager to enjoy all the beauty and fun that this country has to offer with my soon to be wife Heather. We rented a tiny car and stayed at various Bed and Breakfasts throughout the Cities of Dublin and Limerick, as well as in the lush Irish countryside. In the middle of the week, our destiny was the Cliffs of Moher, located on Ireland’s southwest coast. Read more…

Ryan Conklin is a Chef Manager for Culinary & Nutritional Services at Rex. His mission is to bring healthy, gourmet cuisine to the Rex community & shed the label of “hospital food.”

I had a unique opportunity this past week that I wanted to share with you. The Rex Healthcare Chefs were invited back to high school. It had been over fifteen years since I’ve strolled through any high school hallways, so as I was on the way there, candid memories of my days at Warwick Valley High School started to kick in. But this was special, we were coming via invite to help educate students about whole grains, which was a very unique chance for a hospital chefs to touch base with the community. Read more…

Ryan Conklin is a Chef Manager for Culinary & Nutritional Services at Rex. His mission is to bring healthy, gourmet cuisine to the Rex community & shed the label of “hospital food.”

It’s one of those items that you usually walk right past in the produce section of the grocery store. In professional kitchens, it’s hardly used on menus, mostly because cooks or chefs have never used it. I’m going to do my part in trying to change that, because roasting a spaghetti squash is where it’s at. The next time you are out at the market, take one home, as I will now share the simple technique of how to cook this. Trust me, it’s really not as intimidating as it looks. Read more…