The Lee County School District Child Nutrition Department hopes to bring more globally inspired recipes to school kitchens next school year.
This week, three of our kitchen managers attended a culinary workshop at the Institute of Child Nutrition in Oxford to learn about Mediterranean cuisine. They received education about the region, learned professional culinary techniques (for preparing foods like Italian eggplant, tahini sauce, and bulgar), and prepared popular dishes known to the area like hummus and kofta meatballs.
LCSD Child Nutrition Director and Registered Dietitian, Valerie Weivoda, stated, "We were thrilled to have three district managers participate in the training. They came back so excited about what they learned and are ready to talk to their own staff about it. Not only did the managers get to eat foods some have never heard of, they got to cook those foods. The ability to be hands-on with the recipes exposed the feasibility of scratch cooking, even more than what we already do in our schools. These ladies were excited about the knife skills they learned and told me they are all ready to go back for the next training!"
Weivoda also explained, "Each year, we analyze our cycle menu to see how we can make it more appealing for the next year. We want a menu that attracts both the students and staff, which is hard to do when kids and adults eat so differently. That's why we're always trying new recipes while also keeping those tried-and-true staples we know kids love. Overwhelming desire isn't going to sweep the district for tabbouleh, but chicken shawarma stands a chance. We've just got to get the right kind of training for our staff so they feel comfortable preparing dishes some may have never seen before. I'm very grateful ICN is so close to us and that they offered this culinary workshop. Even though there were some foods our managers didn't personally like, they enjoyed the learning experience and said the training was fantastic."
Managers in attendance were Andrea Long, Shannon Middle/High School, Toni Baswell, Plantersville Middle School, and Kerri Roper, Saltillo Primary School.
Here is a list of recipes our managers learned to prepare at the training:
Black Bean Hummus
Tabbouleh
Baba Ganoush
Melon Mint Salad
Greek-Style Tzatziki
Lebanese-Inspired Mujaddara
Middle Eastern-Inspired Chicken Shawarma
Mediterranean-Style Cucumber Salad
Whole Grain Pita Croutons
Chicken Kofta Meatballs
Moroccan-Inspired Harissa Yogurt Sauce
Mediterranean-Inspired Chickpea Salad
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