Dec 05, 2014
ARLINGTON, VA -- The USA Rice Federation has announced the winners of its annual "Healthy Brown Rice on the Menu Contest" for K-12 school menu planners. Participants in the contest were asked to prepare a healthy, flavorful brown rice dish from three recipe categories-rice bowl, breakfast, and lunch.
This week, a press release announcing the winners was distributed to top media outlets consistently read by more than 130,000 K-12 operations. These award-winning entries showcase the versatility of brown rice and demonstrate how schools are using brown rice to create meals that meet nutrition standards.
Each winner will receive a 50 pound donation of whole grain rice thanks to USA Rice sponsors: InHarvest, Producers Rice Mill, Riceland Foods, Mahatma Rice, SunWest Foods, and Uncle Ben's. Grand prize winners receive paid 2015 School Nutrition Association Annual Conference registration, a commercial size rice cooker for their school, and a consumer size rice cooker for their home kitchen donated by Aroma Housewares.
These grand prize dishes combined nutrition with sensational flavors:
Breakfast: Roxanne Szalejko, Food Service Director for Northwood Academy Charter School in Philadelphia, PA; Coconut Cream Breakfast Brown Rice includes U.S. brown rice, coconut, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and raisins.
Lunch: Kay Briles, Head Cook/Manager for Greenfield Elementary School in Baldwin, WI; Turkey Brown Rice Casserole features U.S. brown rice, ground turkey, red onion, red peppers, frozen peas, cream of chicken soup, and slivered almonds.
Rice Bowl: Angie Gaszak, Nutrition Coordinator for Saint Paul Public Schools in St. Paul, MN; Chicken Sofrito Rice Bowl combines U.S. brown rice, chicken stock, diced tomatoes, thyme, garlic jalapeño peppers, onion, and chili powder, finished with red pepper strips and lime juice.
"Brown rice is such a versatile, whole grain menu item that we can use it in a wide variety of dishes while appealing to our diverse district palates, meeting our nutritional goals, and keeping the food costs in line," said Gaszak. "Our students love our brown rice and it has been one of the most widely accepted whole grain menu items."
"Healthy brown rice meals can now be found in every part of the country, as more schools see how easy it is to help students achieve their whole grain servings," said Katie Maher, USA Rice domestic promotion manager. "There are so many innovative ways to use U.S. brown rice to create menu items that deliver nutrition and flavor as well as happy kids and empty plates."
For more information and recipe ideas featuring U.S.-grown rice, visit www.MenuRice.com.
Contact: Colleen Klemczewski (703) 236-1446