Family Recipes
What's On Your Plate? Family Recipe Contest
The D34 Food & Nutrition Services Department wants to serve your favorite family recipe on the D34 lunch menu this spring.
Submit a recipe for an entree or side dish (fruit, vegetable, or grain). All recipes will be reviewed by a panel of Food & Nutrition Services staff members. Finalists will be updated to meet the federal nutrition guidelines and then tested and rated by students.
The winning recipe will be featured on the school menu this spring! The winning student(s) also will be invited to help serve their recipe at lunch.
Last year, over 300 students at 5 of the District’s schools sampled the recipe finalists and selected the winning recipe. The 2023-2024 winning recipe was shared by a Lyon Family and remains a favorite menu item at both Middle Schools this year.
This year, the winning family recipe, Cholay (Chickpeas) was submitted by a Pleasant Ridge family. It will be featured in May in all District 34 school cafeterias. Over 100 students helped select our winning recipe this year.
Submit Your Family Recipe
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2024-25 Winning Recipe: Cholay (Chickpeas)
Courtesy of Pleasant Ridge 5th grader Asiya R. and her family.
Ingredients
2 cans chickpeas
1 medium onion chopped finely
1 tomato
Salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp red chili pepper
1/2 tsp powdered turmeric
1 1/2 tsp powdered cumin seeds
1 tsp powdered coriander
1 tsp baking soda
cilantro (for garnish)
Directions
Saute onion until golden/translucent
Add tomato and all spices, cook on medium heat until fragrant and tomatoes are cooked through
Add chickpeas with aquaflaba from cans
Bring to a boil, then add baking soda (enjoy the bubbles!)
Cover and let simmer on low heat for 10 min until consistency is thicker.
Check for salt, garnish with chopped cilantro.
Notes:
We're Pakistani, so we eat our food spicy! For a traditional American palette, we recommend decreasing red chili pepper to 1/4 tsp, subbing with black pepper, or omitting completely!