Administrators at McPolin Elementary have entered the school in the national “Recipes for Healthy Kids” competition for a chance to win $3,000. The competition pits schools from across the country against one another to create the best, healthy new recipe to include in a school lunch program.
In order to compete, McPolin Elementary Food Services assembled a team consisting of nutritionist Kathleen Britton, the Park City School District food-service director; chef Art Eggertsen, who founded the fresh produce and whole food “pro-bar” in the school; students Ashton, Ruzele and Carolann Strauss and parent Alison Stauss.
The team worked to create a vegan chili that was notably nutritious, as well as simple to make in the school kitchen. The application deadline for the competition is Dec. 30, and teams needed to provide samples of the recipe for the students in the school in order to compete.
The entire student body was able to sample the chili Thursday, Dec. 16. The team distributed small samples and quickly ran out due to the popularity of the dish, according to Alison Strauss.
“Literally, the kids were bombarding us for seconds,” Strauss said.
The chili has been added to the lunch menu throughout the district and will be served in January. The team plans to further pursue the competition with hopes of securing the $3,000 grand prize.
Recipes for Healthy Kids is designed to offer a wide variety of healthy, student-approved, lunch-menu items.