Healthy Lunch Recipe Contest winners serve up delicious meals

In celebration of National School Lunch Week, CUSD Food and Nutrition Services held a Healthy Lunch Recipe Contest, asking students of all grade levels to submit their favorite lunch recipe. Submissions could be no more than five ingredients and needed to include a fruit or vegetable. Students wrote out the ingredients, instructions for preparation and a paragraph describing their dish and why it was important to them.

Of the more than 100 recipe submissions, Food & Nutrition selected the top-four to prepare for a group of judges. Trustees Gila Jones and Judy Bullockus, Superintendent Dr. Chris Brown and other District representatives tasted all of the finalists, and ranked their favorites based on taste, creativity and use of the fruits and vegetables.

FINALISTS

Friendship Fried Rice

Grace Tao, Nitya Koorpati, Claire Segal (Chaparral, 5th Grade)

Fall Sweet Potato Salad

Jade Sonico (Aliso Viejo, 7th Grade)

Avocado Salad

Saanvi Padwal (Aliso Viejo, 6th Grade

WINNER

Sweet Potato and Banana Cinnamon Muffins

Cayden Catching (Aliso Viejo, 6th Grade)

Chaparral 5th graders Nitya Koorapati, Grace Tao and Claire Segal adapted one of Grace’s family recipes to create Friendship Fried Rice.
Aliso Viejo students Jade Sonico, Saanvi Padwal and Cayden Catching developed winning recipes in their culinary arts class with teacher Mrs. Chung
Aliso Viejo students Jade Sonico, Saanvi Padwal and Cayden Catching proudly show off their prizes from the contest

Check out the winning recipes below, and try to make them at home!

Sweet Potato and Banana Cinnamon Muffins by Cayden Catching
Sweet Potato and Banana Cinnamon Muffins by Cayden Catching
scan_stillingworth_2024-11-21-11-01-45

 

Avocado Salad by Saanvi Padwal
Avocado Salad by Saanvi Padwal
Avocado Salad

 

Fall Sweet Potato Salad by Jade Sonico
Fall Sweet Potato Salad by Jade Sonico
Fall Sweet Potato Salad

 

Friendship Fried Rice by Grace Tao, Nitya Koorapati, Claire Segel
Friendship Fried Rice by Grace Tao, Nitya Koorapati, Claire Segel
scan_stillingworth_2024-11-21-11-05-12

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