Michelle Obama has long promoted healthy eating for America’s youth and she took an opportunity while in Jacksonville last week to celebrate a group of students who have cooked up some tasty ways to further that cause through school lunches.
The First Lady congratulated culinary students from Duval County Public Schools' Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology on their recent win in the Cooking Up Change National Healthy Cooking Contest.
Sponsored by the non-profit Healthy Schools Campaign, the Cooking Up Change contest challenges students to “transform the future of school food” by creating healthy alternatives to traditional school lunches.
After winning a local competition in March against culinary students from Terry Parker and Sandalwood high schools, the Peterson's Eagle Chefs — Alexus Baldwin, Leoniqua Jackson and Denver Singletary – went on to win the grand prize at the national contest in Washington, D.C. in May against teams from Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, Winston-Salem and Washington.
The winning meal was a Caribbean-inspired beef rib salad with Moroccan brown rice and sweet potato cornbread muffin (see below for recipes).
First Lady Obama commended the young chefs on their efforts to promote healthy eating and create a healthy, great-tasting school lunch. She met the students at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville upon her arrival in town to attend a 2012 presidential campaign fundraiser at the Prime F. Osborn Convention Center.
The winning Cooking Up Change recipes from Frank H. Peterson Academies culinary students:
Caribbean Rib Salad
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
* 2 teaspoons chili powder
* 2 teaspoons garlic powder
* 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
* 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 8 boneless pork ribs (may substitute boneless beef ribs or pork rib patties)
* 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
* 1 tablespoon grape jelly
* 2 teaspoons white vinegar
* 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
* 2 teaspoons lemon juice
* 12 cups raw baby spinach
* 4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
* 1 cup shredded carrot
* 2 cups sliced and chopped tomatoes
* 5 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
Combine the dry spices and rub half the mixture on the meat. Can be done and refrigerated overnight in a sealed bag to marinate. Grill or broil boneless ribs until fully cooked, or if using pork rib patties, cook per instructions. As the meat cooks, combine barbecue sauce, grape jelly, vinegar, oil, lemon juice and the other half of the dry spices. Heat in a saucepan until jelly melts and flavors combine. Do not boil.
Combine spinach, romaine and shredded carrots, coat with salad dressing and toss, then portion onto plate. Cut ribs into bite-size portions and toss with remaining dressing, then add one rib’s worth atop each salad. Cover with diced tomatoes and garnish with shredded cheese.
Moroccan Brown Rice
Serves: 6
Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups raisins, packed
* 2 ounces warm water
* 3 cups brown rice
* 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced into 1/4-inch cubes
* 1 medium diced onion
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 1/2 cups raw baby spinach
* 10 ounces low-fat vanilla yogurt
Directions
Soak raisins in 2 ounces of warm water. Cook brown rice according to package directions. Saute diced sweet potato and onion in canola oil until potato is soft and onion is translucent. Add all seasonings to the potato and onion mixture. Drain raisins. Gently combine raw chopped spinach, vanilla yogurt, raisins and potato/onion mixture into rice and keep warm.
Sweet Potato Cornbread Muffins
Serves: 12
Ingredients
* 2 medium sweet potatoes
* 3/4-cup applesauce
* 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup low fat milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
* 1 box cornbread mix
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 7 ounces maple syrup
Directions
Cook sweet potatoes until tender in oven or microwave; cool, peel and mash. Combine mashed sweet potatoes, applesauce, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla and oil. Combine dry cornbread mix, baking powder and spices. Gently fold dry ingredients into potato/applesauce mix and stir well. Portion into paper-lined muffin cups and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Remove from oven when cooked, poke holes in muffins with a bamboo skewer and evenly drizzle syrup over them. Allow to cool before serving.
NOTE: Recipes reprinted from the Florida Times-Union.
See First Coast News video of First Lady Obama greeting the Peterson culinary students at NAS-Jax.
For more photos of the First Lady's visit with Peterson students, go to Duval County's Flickr page.
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