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Look out Jose Andrés and Mike Isabella, there’s a whole bunch of new, innovative chefs descending upon D.C. soon. Pint-sized chefs, that is.
Today the winners of the 2013 Kids’ State Dinner—a youth recipe contest and dinner that are part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative to promote healthy eating among America’s youth—announced their winners. The contest challenged youth from around the country to come up with creative dishes that were also affordable, original, healthy, and yummy. Dishes that, conceivably, be introduced into the school lunch rotation. Of the 1,300 entries, a panel of judges that includes both professional chefs and culinary experts, along with children (presumably with less professional culinary experience) selected one winner from each state and U.S. territories.
On July 9, all 54 winners and their families will travel to the White House for the second annual Kids’ State dinner, where the First Lady will be in attendance to award the young chefs.
The competition, which was also sponsored by the cooking web site Epicurious, the Department of Education, and the Department of Agriculture, challenged children to come up with original recipes that also met criteria that supports the USDA MyPlate guidelines by representing each of the food groups including, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy foods.
Some of the more delicious-sounding recipes include “Quinoa ‘Risotto’ with Shrimp and Kale,” “Kickin, Colorful, Bell Peppers stuffed with Quinoa,” “Hawaiian Turkey Sliders with Mango-Pineapple Salsa,” and the “Bring it On, Brussels Sprout Wrap!”
Holy shit, I wish they served those dishes in my middling public school cafeteria when I was growing up.