Washington, July 4 (IANS) Five Indian-American children are among 54 winners of a nationwide recipe challenge to promote healthy lunches as part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Initiative invited to a “State Dinner” at White House Tuesday.
The group will join First Lady Michelle Obama for a healthy lunch, featuring a selection of the winning recipes and a performance by singer Rachel Crow, followed by a visit to the White House kitchen garden, according to an official announcement.
“Our Kids’ State Dinner is one of my favourite events of the year, and the kid chefs who come from around the country never cease to impress and inspire me with their creativity and ingenuity,” said Michelle Obama.
“I’m counting down the days until the winners join me at the White House to celebrate these healthy and delicious meals that kids everywhere will love,” she said.
For the second consecutive year, The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge & Kids’ “State Dinner” invited a parent or guardian to work with their child ages 8-12 to create a lunchtime recipe that is healthy, affordable, original and delicious.
In support of Let’s Move!, launched by the First Lady to help solve the problem of childhood obesity, each recipe adhered to the guidance that supports US Department of Agriculture’s ‘MyPlate’ to ensure that the criteria of a healthy meal were met.
Entries had to represent each of the five food groups that are the building blocks for a healthy diet, either in one dish or as parts of a lunch meal, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and low-fat dairy foods, with fruits and veggies making up roughly half the plate or recipe.
The Indian-American winners are: Shefali Singh, 12, (Falmouth, Massachusetts) – “Shefali’s Scrumptious Spring Rolls”; Vijay Dey, 12, (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) – “Spring Rolls”; Anisha Patel, 11, (Blacklick, Ohio) – “Kickin, Colourful, Bell Peppers stuffed with Quinoa”; Ganesh Selvakumar, 9, (Broomall, Pennsylvania) – “Lentil Spinach Soup and Mint Chutney” and Devanshi Udeshi, 12, (Sugar Land, Texas) – “Slam Dunk Veggie Burger”.
