4 recipes top PSS cooking competition

Four special recipes created and presented by young chefs from private and public schools topped the Public School System’s Student Healthy Recipe Contest Cook-Off on Saturday. The competition saw the participation of 27 teams from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.

For the 9th to 12th division, the winning team was composed of Josifynn Rasa, Harrison Smith, and Evert Van Der Maas from the Northern Marianas Academy who impressed the judges with their “Guihan Tortizas,” a concoction of local salsa, fish, fruit cocktail, and tortillas as its main ingredients.

Judges also gave the nod to the creation of Mount Carmel School’s Keona Camacho, whose “Tofu with Vegetables” made her the winner in the 7th to 8th grade division.

The “Crunch Mango and Cucumber Salad” made by Julie Ann Long and Magdelena Lieto from Tanapag Elementary School was victorious in the 4th to 6th grade category.

In the kindergarten to third grade division, judges hailed the creation of Dandan Elementary School students Tivana Torres, Vincent Torres, and Jesse Taitano, who perfected their “Grilled Fruits” entry.

According to CNMI-PSS nutritionist Dianne Esplin, a total of 27 teams registered for the competition, which had the theme “Get Your Plate In Shape” and emphasized the need for a balance diet.

The K-3 category featured softer local fruits like bananas and papayas while the 4th to 6th category featured some of the fruits that take a little more skill with the knife, such as watermelon and pineapple. The 7th to 8th category featured local vegetables while the 9th to 12th category had to create a full balanced meal, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein, and dairy, based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate nutrition model.

“Our judges were very impressed with all the student recipes, and the competition was very close in several categories. We hope that this event opened our student’s eyes to even more appetizing ways to eat a balanced diet,” Esplin said.

Research has shown that people who eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains daily have lower incidences of non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. These diseases are a huge problem in the CNMI.

“It’s never too late to choose healthy eating, but the younger you start, the better. The future health of CNMI depends on the healthy choices right now,” Esplin said.

She pointed out that CNMI is abundant with healthy fruits and vegetables that are locally grown. Not only does choosing to eat these foods keep people healthy, but they also help the local economy grow by supporting local farmers.

This year’s judges were from Auntie Mag’s Catering, Barny’s Pizza, CNMI WIC, Commonwealth Cancer Association, Commonwealth Health Center, Division of Public Health, Herman’s Modern Bakery, Hyatt Regency Saipan, LSG Sky Chefs, Marianas Health Services, and MV Reyes Catering. The competition was held at the Pacific Islands Club Ironwoods Lawn.