Vegan dish takes top prize at Association for Healthcare Foodservice culinary competition

A pair of senior living chefs swept an Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF) culinary competition last week, earning the top prize for a vegan dish they crafted using a mystery ingredient revealed just ahead of the battle: local craft beer.

The competition, held during the Association for Healthcare Foodservice’s annual national conference in Minneapolis, pitted teams of healthcare chefs against one another in a bit of friendly sparring. The winning dish, a take on elotes dubbed 30th Street Corn Risotto, was crafted by Robert Navarrete and Diane Menzie of Rogue Valley Manor in Medford, Ore.

Chefs Antonio Sanchez and Moulay Hida from Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis took second place for their entry, while third went to Michael Vetro and Richard Farmer of Memphis, Tenn.’s St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“My hat is off to the winners and all the finalists in the culinary competition. They highlight the talent in self-operated healthcare foodservice departments,” David Reeves, president of AHF, said in a statement. “These competitors showed us what can be done when hospitals and long-term care facilities are committed to creating good food in-house while providing affordable and nutritious meals in the healthcare setting.”

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Meals prepared in the competition had to make sense for service in a healthcare facility and had limits around food cost ($8), calories (700), fat grams (23) and sodium (750 mg).