A New Recipe for Cafeteria Lunches
Who better to make cafeteria food better than those who know it best? High school students recently proved that they can teach us a thing or two about the culinary arts. On June 10th, the U.S. Department of Education hosted student chefs from eight high school culinary programs as part of Cooking up Change, presented by the Healthy Schools Campaign. On the menu: create a savory lunch that meets nutrition standards while on a shoestring budget.
The results revealed that today’s youth know how to think outside the milk carton box. For example, Team Los Angeles, hailing from West Adams Preparatory High School, produced a Tex-Mex Corn Bread and Black Bean Mountain, Cucumber Salad, and Warm Pear and Raisin Delight. And Team Denver conjured up a Chicken Panini Wrap, Coleslaw with Dijon Vinaigrette, and Jalapeño-Infused Peach Crumble. Keep in mind that these dishes were made by teenagers.
More impressive is that these delicious masterpieces were produced based on strict guidelines of only 10 ingredients. The teens also didn’t have a lot of dough to work with: they had to stick to a budget with the same constraints schools currently face. And when all the cooking was said and done, each team had to serve up an explanation about the challenges of the process and the inspiration for their meal – many cited their regional culture as the main ingredient for their dish.
Every team did well, but the top chefs were Cesar Amezcua, Cecilia Magana, and Carlos Ortiz from Team Orange County. These Valley High School culinary students took home the bacon for their healthy and scrumptious “Pita Packs a Punch,” with Hot and Sweet Slaw and Delicious Apple Crepes.
“This was so important to us because we want to make a difference in our school,” said Amezcua. And indeed, these grade-A student meals are gracing school lunch menus across the country, including the teams’ very own cafeterias. The fact that these teens dished out such nutritional and tasty cafeteria lunches should give schools continued food for thought.
Sufen Wang, M.S. Accountancy, Wang Solutions, Long Beach, CA (562) 856-0793
Editor: Hannah Huff, M.F.A. Creative Writing: Poetry, (626) 806-5805
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