Giving school meals a new twist: modified recipes get rave reviews in Texas schools

Food and Nutrition, Fall-Winter, 1989 by Kay Blakely

Giving School Meals A New Twist If a new chili concoction can pass muster in Texas where chili is regarded with the same high esteem as the yellow rose and the Lone Star, then it's got to be good.

That's the verdict on a healthful mixture of ground turkey, pureed broccoli, tomato paste, and spices that looks, smells, and tastes like the genuine article--hot, spicy, stick-to-your-ribs chili. And it's just one of the many modified items served in the Arlington (Texas) Independent School District's new and successful effort to provide school meals that are higher in fiber and lower in fat, salt, and sugar.

Making traditional recipes even more nutritious through substitutions was not a new idea to Arlington's assistant food service director Kellie Gragg. "Implementing this in our school lunch program had been at the back of my mind for a long time," she says.

When Barbara Patrick, then food service manager at an Arlington junior high school, took a summer course taught by Gragg at the local junior college, the idea and the way to put it into practice came together.

New approach

was appealing

Gragg caught Patrick's interest with some of the food substitutions she introduced in her quantity food production course. "We did sloppy joes," Patrick says, "and I was absolutely amazed that you couldn't tell the difference between those made the traditional way and those made from the turkey-broccoli combination."

Patrick was so impressed, she tried a few substitutions of her own in the meal she served her family that night. Their rave reviews convinced her. "We should do this for the children at school," Patrick told Gragg. "Wonderful," Gragg replied. "Let's do it at your school."

Even though Patrick knew the undertaking would be difficult, she did a good job of convincing her kitchen staff that the project was worth whatever time and effort it took. The staff got solidly behind the program and came up with several modifications of their own, based on outside reading or other personal experiences.

To date, the most commonly used substitutions in the district include:

* using a 50-50 mixture of whole wheat and white flour instead of all white flour in breads and other baked items;

* using ground turkey instead of or in combination with ground beef or pork;

* using lowfat yogurt or a mixture of yogurt and mayonnaise in salad dressings and foods like tuna salad and potato salad;

* seasoning vegetables with herbs and spices rather than salt and butter or margarine;

* and using low-fat cheese such as mozzarella made with low-fat milk as much as possible.

"It's really not any harder to cook this way," Patrick says, "it's just a matter of changing some ingrained habits. Nearly every cook reaches for the salt at first, when a dish needs some extra seasoning. Our cooks had to realize that salt is now at the bottom of the list of options rather than at the top."

Most of the production steps are basically the same as in the original recipes, with a few exceptions. School staff, for example, take extra care to drain cooked meats, especially ground beef and pork, to remove additional fat.

Trial and error

used in testing

Testing the modified recipes was done primarily by trial and error in Patrick's school kitchen. "Our cooks felt kind of like scientists, knowing that what we were doing would have a tremendously positive impact on the lives of all the children who eat the meals we prepare," Patrick says.

"We had lots and lots of failures getting to the recipes that worked. Our ultimate goal was to do this painlessly--to do it so the children found the new products as acceptable as what they had had all along. The proof of acceptability came in the form of no comments.

"If the kids never asked what was different with the chili, we took that as a sign of success--that we had given them a product every bit as acceptable as the original," she explains.

Do the children knowingly eat such foods as broccoli and plain yogurt? Well, not exactly. This knowledge is being shared with them slowly because of a dramatically telling experience at the beginning of the project.

"We had always had a high percentage of faculty participation at my school," Patrick explains, "so we thought giving a faculty luncheon featuring some of the modified recipes would be a good way to gain their support."

After the faculty had enjoyed "Fiesta Salads" made with baked tortillas, modified chili topped with yogurt instead of sour cream, and brownies made from whole wheat flour, egg whites, and carob powder, Patrick and Gragg announced, "Now let us tell you what you've just eaten."

"They were so enthused, so excited, and so supportive of what we were doing," Patrick says. "They made every positive comment you can imagine. Then school started, and our adult participation dropped to nearly zero!"

Even though the teachers resumed eating school lunches within a short time, Patrick concluded that too much information given too soon was definitely not the way to go.