Lettuce Honor the Salad Cook-Off Winners

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Eight County employees competed in a live culinary competition on Thursday to celebrate the start of the summer season and Employee Wellness. The Summer Slam Salad Cook-Off Contest at the County Operations Center proved that salads with fresh ingredients can be both healthy and delicious.

Each contestant created a dish made with colorful produce provided by the farmers market stand and had just 30 minutes to “shop,” prepare and plate their meal. The contenders used crisp lettuces, juicy strawberries, buttery avocadoes and dozens of other farm-fresh fixings. Extra ingredients, including dressings and cheeses, were also available for the gourmet group.

A panel of judges then tasted the fare and declared a winner. Here are the best of the best:

#1 Virginia Exner

#2 Maria Adame-Chavez

#3 Ebony Rice (tie)

#3 Jennifer Winfrey (tie)

#4 Chakecia Rhone

#5 Megan Shea

#6 Maria Lourdes Beck

#7 Ranel Velasquez

The “celebrity” judges were COC cafeteria manager Javier Almanza, COC property manager Kathleen Devlin, DHR Benefits Manager Elaine Pitpit and Diana Bishop with Kaiser.

The winning salad included strawberries, dried cranberries, almonds and orange wedge slices topped with a vinaigrette dressing.

Virginia Exner’s Salad Recipe

Salad Ingredients:

  • 3 cups basil - torn up
  • 1 package strawberries (approximately  20 berries) - sliced
  • 2 avocados - cubed into bite size pieces
  • 1 handful of dried cranberries
  • 1 small yellow bell pepper- sliced into thin slivers
  • ½ cup crumbled brie cheese or blue cheese
  • 1 handful almonds - chopped into small pieces
  • 1 lime
  • 6 mint leaves
  • ½ orange- prepared in wedge slices

Dressing Ingredients:

  • ½ orange
  • 1/3 cup grape seed oil (or any light olive oil of choice)
  • 3 tablespoons dark vinegar or prepared vinaigrette (Serrano Pepper Honey Vinaigrette)
  • 3 tablespoons honey

Directions:

  1. Prepare dressing by mixing oil, vinaigrette and honey. Squeeze juice from half of the orange into the dressing and set aside.
  2. Toss together basil, avocado, strawberries, cranberries, cheese and peppers in large salad bowl. Set aside 5 or 6 strawberries and 5 or 6 avocado wedges for garnish.
  3. Mix in dressing to lightly cover all ingredients.
  4. Sprinkle almonds on top and squeeze a little lime juice over the salad.
  5. Garnish each serving with orange wedge, strawberry, avocado slice and mint sprig.
  6. Have fun!

Learn more about the Employee Wellness Program on Insite.