South Carolina Students Serve Up Creativity in Culinary Competition

Students from the School District of Pickens County (SC) offered up their best culinary creations in hopes of impressing the taste buds of judges in the Healthy Salad and Sandwich Culinary Competition. The annual event is designed to provide students with hands-on education in cooking, recipe development and producing and serving recipes in large quantities.

A total of 95 students of all ages submitted recipes, and the winners were selected by a judging panel made up of Clemson University Health Sciences students. The recipes were created at the district’s Career & Technology Center, younger students were tasked with healthy salad offerings and older competitors worked on nutritious sandwich recipes. Jr. Chef Erica’s colorful and nutritious salad, The Rainbow, made with sweet corn, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, diced ham and Ranch dressing, was the winning recipe among younger contestants. The B.L.A.T., a bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato sandwich with Sriracha sauce created by Jr. Chef Gus, was the winner among the older students.

Other creative recipes included third-grader and budding chef Jensen with Nana’s Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad. Central Academy of the Arts student Brielle contributed Cougar Pasta Salad, featuring whole grain rotini pasta, fresh sliced cucumbers, diced tomatoes, diced carrots, Colby jack cheese cubes and fat-free Italian dressing.

“The Healthy Salad and Sandwich Culinary Competition is a great opportunity for students who enjoy cooking and kitchen experiences. We stress the importance of nutrition and impart students with culinary knowledge about meal preparation and presentation,” said Director of Student Nutrition Services Jenaffer Stevenson. “We hosted the event for several years prior to the pandemic and decided to bring it back because of its popularity among our students and staff.”

The district’s nutrition staff set the recipe criteria and made a conscious effort to alter student-created recipes to meet school nutrition guidelines when needed. Presenting recipes to the judges and allowing everyone to sample their creations was the most enjoyable aspect of the competition for students, according to feedback Stevenson received.  The South Carolina-based School District of Pickens County features 23 schools and serves more than 16,400 hungry students.

“It brings our staff great joy to witness the pride students take in creating their recipes and the excitement they display when serving and watching their creations being sampled,” said Stevenson. “They can’t wait to volunteer to help students with the competition each year and enjoy it as much as our students do.”

The Healthy Salad and Sandwich Culinary Competition is not only fun and educational but may even spawn a professional chef or two.