Snohomish elementary students get cooking with recipe contest

SNOHOMISH -- Twelve-year-old Jared Pearson was confident about his chicken enchiladas, even though he had only made the dish three times before.

"It tastes like it is from a good Mexican restaurant," said the sixth-grader from Dutch Hill Elementary School.

The judges must have agreed, because they gave him the judge's choice award at the culinary competition, Kids Can Cook, last week.

Jared was one of 18 finalists at the competition that had students prepare original recipes at Glacier Peak High School.

The event was organized by the Snohomish School District Food Services, which received 45 recipes from district's students. Only students in fourth- to sixth-grade could participate. Five staff members picked the finalists in early March, food services director Ann Spencer said.

A factor in choosing the finalists was diversity of the dishes, she said.

The Kids Can Cook event has been going on for five years. The contest is a way to encourage kids to make healthy eating choices, district's spokeswoman Kristin Foley said.

The future chefs represented all elementary schools at the Snohomish School District, except Central Primary School which only has kindergarten through second grade.

A three-judge panel chose one winner in four different categories. Each winner got a mini-blender as a prize.

All finalists got a medal, certificate, a chef's hat and coat with their name on it and a cookbook that included their recipe.

The participants were divided into groups at two different kitchens. Each group had a volunteer from food services and Glacier Peak High students to help them with their recipes by slicing ingredients and putting pots on the stove or in the oven.

Each group helped cook one participant's dish at a time. One of the first to be prepared was Emily Foley's side dish: Foley Mini Frittatas.

The Little Cedars Elementary School fourth-grader had help from her mother in coming up with the recipe that could have up to eight different vegetables.

Emily, 9, wanted to do a dish with vegetables because she likes them.

She also makes smoothies. But she said she doesn't mix the two.

"I only like fruit in my smoothies," Emily replied.

Smoothies with vegetables as part of the ingredients is not that crazy of an idea. Ame Bridgman from Cascade View Elementary won the prize for health-conscious foods with her strawberry, carrot and zucchini smoothie.

The sixth-grader called the concoction her Secret Smoothies.

"You get a full serving of fruits and vegetables," 12-year old Ame said, describing her plate.

This was her second time competing in the Kids Can Cook event. Ame competed when she was in fourth grade. She was not a finalist then.

Parents and judges dined on the creations at the school cafeteria. Kennedy Duran, a fourth-grader at Machias Elementary, offered her lemon blueberry bread. Kennedy, 10, decided on the lemon blueberry bread because it's similar to making cakes, which she makes for family birthdays.

"I want to be a baker. It's fun," she said.

Alejandro Dominguez: 425-339-3422; adominguez@heraldnet.com.

Kids Can Cook winners

Here are the winners for Snohomish School District's Kids Can Cook competition:

Judge's choice: Jared Pearson, Dutch Hill Elementary, for his chicken enchiladas recipe.

Kid-friendly preparation: Gladi-Rose Goodwin, Riverview Elementary, for her recipe of School of Fish, that is made up of apricots, pretzels, chocolate chips and cream cheese.

Fun food category: Bethany Shade, Cascade View Elementary, for her recipe of Peanut Butter Dates.

Health-conscious food: Ame Bridgman, Cascade View, for her Secret Smoothies recipe, a smoothie which contains strawberries, carrots and zucchini.