Parasole Chef Dishes on Chance to Cook for First Lady

Parasole corporate chef Todd Bolton and a group of students and staff members from the South Education Center Alternative Program (SECA) worked together on a Turkey Porcupine Slider recipe as part of a the Recipes for Healthy Kids contest run by the USDA and the First Lady. Its purpose is to create healthy and delicious items that can be easily turned into school lunches.

Entered in the Whole Grains category, their baked burgers with turkey, spinach, brown rice and cranberries, won them a spot at the finals in Dallas at the American Culinary Federation cook-off on July 25, 2011. If Bolton and his SECA compatriots win the $3,000 Grand Prize there, they could be making sliders at the White House for Michelle Obama. 

Edina Patch talked with Chef Todd about how they came up with the sliders and what happens next. And he even agreed to share the recipe with readers.

Edina Patch: What made you decide to enter the contest?

Chef Todd Bolton: To be honest, I thought I was just being a nice guy. I was between big projects and had a little time. Parasole has a history of participating in local schools—from giving speeches to students, supporting the ProStart program and a long involvement in San Miguel Middle School (sadly closing). When I got the call and understood what it was all about, I thought, "Sure...why not?"

EP: Who from SECA helped you develop your recipe?

Chef Bolton: It was very much a collaborative effort. The class that was working on this project was a Life Skills class, not really a culinary class, so they came at it from a different angle. The students had plenty of ideas—burritos, pizza, a root vegetable stew—and we brainstormed for a few sessions. The other adult members of the team—Terry Guthrie (Consumer Science Education Teacher), Wanda Nikolai (School Lunch Supervisor) and Mary Lair (Bloomington Public Health Nurse)—all had ideas that eventually led us to the Turkey Porcupine Sliders.

EP: How did you come up with the name and what inspired you to make this particular recipe?

Chef Bolton: At some point the idea of using meatballs in a dish bubbled up and someone mentioned an old recipe for Porcupine Meatballs, which is simply a meatball with rice included (the rice being the quills, I guess?). Anyway, to make that healthier, we switched the beef to lean ground turkey and changed the rice to brown rice. Sliders are a bit of a trend right now and seemed like a good vehicle to get kids to try our healthy dish, so we ended up with Turkey Porcupine Sliders.

EP: We heard your son attends SECA. Does he like to cook? Did he help with the recipe?

Chef Bolton: My son, Lalo, seems to enjoy eating, but not so much on the cooking. He actually wasn't in the class that was participating. It was pure coincidence that Lalo is going to the same school.

EP: Did you have to research the school lunch standards or other official rules?

Chef Bolton: Thankfully Terry, Wanda and Mary went through the headaches of getting our recipe to meet the nutritional standards of the contest. There were some minor tweaks to the actual recipes to get it to work, but Terry really led the charge into the bureaucratic submission process.

EP: How was the visit from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) after you made it past the first round of the competition?

Chef Bolton: That was fun. We had practiced a few times and coached the students with mock interviews, practice making the dish, food safety and sanitation and then let them do the whole show. They knocked it out of the park. Calm, professional, efficient—it was really impressive and made a real impact on the judges. I credit our semifinal win to how great the students did in their presentation.

EP: Are you excited about the cook-off in Dallas? Who will you take with you as your team?

Chef Bolton: It will be tons of fun. It takes place during the ACF convention so we'll be one little competition among many, but we're in it to win. I have total confidence in our product so we just need to be cool and execute well. The team actually only includes one of the students and three adults which isn't really fair. This is the first competition of its kind and the USDA is already reviewing how they will proceed next year. Hopefully, it will be much more student-focused moving forward.

EP: Can we share the recipe on Edina Patch?

Chef Bolton: You bet!

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The official recipe is attached to this article and comes in at only 215 calories per serving. Or if you prefer being cooked for—a pair of Chef Bolton's Turkey Porcupine Sliders are now available with root chips or a green salad for $7.95 at the location at the .