Super Salad Bars: Fresh Ideas for Schools & a Root Veggie Recipe
New School Cuisine: Nutritious and Seasonal Recipes for School Cooks by School Cooks
New School Cuisine is the first of its kind—a cookbook for school cooks, by school cooks. Developed by Vermont school nutrition professionals with support from the New England Culinary Institute, this cookbook includes 78 kid-tested and approved recipes that meet the new USDA dietary guidelines and feature local, seasonal foods.
Salad bars are more than a side dish—they’re a daily opportunity for kids to try new, fresh foods. With a little creativity, salad bars showcase the best of what’s local, seasonal, and colorful.
Our Vermont Agency of Education’s Child Nutrition Institute workshop took a deep dive into this key element of the lunch line. Farm to Institution Program Director Kayla Strom collaborated with partners from across the state to share best practices, hear from school nutrition professionals, and get in the kitchen together to make one of New School Cuisine’s most popular recipes, Magenta Root Slaw. Read on for takeaways and a recipe from the day:
Three Tips for Making the Most of Your Salad Bar
Bring in the school garden. School garden harvests are perfect for salad bars. Small amounts can go a lot further on a salad bar than they usually can in a recipe meant to serve everyone. Swap in new items when they’re available. It’s a great way to keep things fresh and exciting while celebrating the student’s work in the garden.
Make it visually appealing. Abbey Group Food Service Director Bob Hildebrand suggests, “Make the salad bar look like a rainbow.” We eat with our eyes first—and kids are no exception. A rainbow of vegetables like purple beets, orange carrots, and leafy greens makes the bar pop and draws students in.
Connect the food back to the farmer. For students in farming communities, seeing their own families and their neighbors celebrated in the cafeteria makes a real difference. A sign near the salad bar showing the name and photos of the farm items came from is a quick way to help make students make those connections. “I’ve heard kids in the cafeteria say things like, ‘Hey, those carrots from Joey’s mom’s farm!’” shares Misse Axelrod of Vermont Farm and Forest School. “These small things can build pride in the school community”
Recipe: Magenta Root Slaw
Yield: 4 cups
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon fresh ginger
3-4 carrots
2-3 beets
2-3 parsnips
¼ cup honey
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Method
Peel and chop ginger. Pulse in a food processor fitted with a steel blade until ground.
Trim and peel carrots, beets and parsnips. Shred in a food processor fitted with a shredding disc, or by hand.
Whisk together honey, lemon juice and salt in a large bowl. Add the shredded vegetables and toss to combine.
