Creative Delites; The Guide to All That's Healthy & Delicious Eats on NYC's Upper West Side

the CHEF:

Bil Telepan

(Chef Bill Telepan’s Bio)

How do you define a healthy restaurant? To some people, “healthy” means vegetarian or vegan. Then there’s also the kind of “healthy” that emphasizes low-calorie or macrobiotic diets. Chef Bill Telepan explains that his food is healthy in a different way. At his Upper West Side Restaurant, Telepan, Bill serves up seasonal food from local farms, and he uses as many organic ingredients as he can get.   In addition to the regular items on his restaurant’s menu, there are also seasonal specials — such as beet salad, with bulgar and a light buttermilk dressing, and Nantucket Bay Scallops Crudo, with hearts of palm.  Bill shared three of Telepan’s healthiest and tastiest recipes with Creative Delites, so you can delight in their greenmarket cooking at home.  Stay tuned — I’m going to make Bill’s Spinach Frittata for breakfast this week. Also, feel fry to try other recipes from Telepan here, such as their tomato bread soup.

RECIPES courtesy of:
Telepan (69th St. btw. Columbus Ave. and Central Park West)

• spinach frittata
• brussels sprouts
• chickpea pancakes

Spinach Frittata with Russet Potatoes Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

½ pound russet potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 branches (sprigs) thyme, plus 2 teaspoons chopped for frittata
½ onion
2 cloves garlic
1 ounce spinach
8 eggs

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450*.
2. Peel potatoes and cut into ½’ cubes.
3. Place 1 tablespoon oil, potatoes, branches of thyme, 2 tablespoons and a good pinch of salt onto a large piece of foil, fold up and place in oven and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15-18 minutes. Reserve.
4. Melt 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch sauté pan over medium heat.
5. Add onion and garlic and a pinch of salt and soften for about 5-7 minutes.
6. Add spinach and wilt, about 2 minutes.
7. Take off the heat, place in bowl and allow to cool to room temperature.
8. Whisk the eggs together, and add in the spinach mix, chopped thyme, and potatoes. Season with salt to taste.
9. Heat remaining oil in a 10-inch sauté pan on medium heat, place in the egg mix and cook on the stove until edges start to solidify and place in oven until the frittata is cooked through, about 12-15 minutes.
10. Slip onto cutting board, cut into serving wedges (4-8) and serve with the potatoes.

Brussels Sprouts Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds Brussels sprouts-ends trimmed, cut in half lengthwise
¼ cup minced onion
6 cloves garlic-peeled and chopped
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook the Brussels sprouts in 2 batches.
2. Heat a large skillet or dutch oven on high heat.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, when just about to smoke, add half of the Brussels sprouts, stir to coat and brown the sprouts, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove from pan, into a shallow bowl, sprinkle with salt and repeat with 2 more tablespoons of the oil, this time over medium-high heat.
5. When then sprouts are cooked, return the pan to high heat, add remaining oil and when hot, add the garlic and onion. Cook to brown, about 1-2 minutes.
6. Add sprouts, stock and a pinch of salt and over high heat cook for 6 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chickpea Pancakes with Spicy Carrots and Oregano Oil Recipe

For the pancake:

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoons cream
1 egg
½ cup flour
¼ cup chickpea flour
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup crushed cooked chickpeas

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450ºF.
2. Mix milk, cream egg in a bowl.
3. Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.
4. Fold into batter the crushed chickpeas.
5. Melt 1/2 teaspoon butter, in a medium ovenproof non-stick pan over high heat. Swirl butter around pan. Use 2 tablespoons of batter to form a pancake 3 inches in diameter. Cook two at a time. When the edges start to lightly brown, about 1 to 2 minutes place in oven for 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and return to oven until lightly brown, about 4 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter. Keep pancakes warm.

For the topping:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sliced onion
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 ounces extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of peeled and bias-cut celery
8 pepperoncini peppers, seeds removed from 2, julienne
For carrots
2 ounces butter
1 1/2 pound multi-colored carrots, peeled
4 ounces vegetable stock
pepperoncini mix

DIRECTIONS:

1. Over medium-low heat, cook onion and garlic in olive oil with a pinch of salt in covered pan for 3 minutes.
2. Add celery and another small pinch of salt and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes.
3. Add peppers and cook 3 to 4 minutes, take off heat and cool.
4. Cut the carrots into oblique 1 inch segments by cutting on the bias and the rotating carrot 180 degrees before cutting again.
5. In a large sauté over medium heat, melt the butter, add carrots, season with salt, and sweat for 6 minutes.
6. Add stock and cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat until carrots are al dente and liquid forms a glaze, about 7 minutes.
7. Place carrots and pepperoncini mix into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.
8. When warmed through, adjust seasoning and serve on pancakes and drizzle with oil (recipe to follow)

For the oregano oil:

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix together and hold