By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—Forget your assumptions about school lunch, with choices from Asian-inspired dishes to home-style meals, the Hoover City Schools lunch menu looks more gourmet than cafeteria.

Each day the HCS Child Nutrition Program staff works hard to create tasty and nutritious meals for the school system’s nearly 14,000 students.

Making school lunch is no easy task. The job requires preparing food for a large number of students from a menu that appeals to a wide range of tastes, all while adhering to strict federal nutrition regulations.

“Child Nutrition Programs are regulated programs,” HCS Director of Child Nutrition Melinda Bonner said. “Calories, fat, sodium, the components we use, they all have to meet (federal requirements).”

Kids don’t always like to eat what’s good for them, so the CNP staff often thinks out of the box to create kid-approved and federal regulation-approved meals.

On Jan. 28, Chef Garrett Berdan stopped by the CNP managers’ monthly meeting at Spain Park High School to demonstrate more ways to spice up school lunch. HCS won the free demonstration at a National School Nutrition Conference, Bonner explained.

Berdan is a professional chef and registered dietitian based in Oregon. He has experience in numerous facets of the culinary industry, but his specialty is K-12 nutrition. In 2011, he was honored by the White House as a Champion of Change for his work with school nutrition programs and the Chefs Move to Schools initiative.

“Food can be as nutritious as possible, but who’s going to eat it if it doesn’t taste good?” Berdan said. “With flavor…you can help build variety in your menus.”

Berdan discussed a range of ingredients that can create a “craveable taste” without sacrificing nutrition. For example, Berdan suggested replacing salt with low-sodium soy sauce or a teriyaki glaze.

“(You can) heighten the taste without having to throw salt at the food,” Berdan said.

CNP managers tasted three Asian-inspired dishes Berdan created and flavored with sauces.

Berdan served a sweet and savory Asian chicken pizza, layered with preservative-free orange sauce and a touch of sriracha sauce; a fantastic “fried” rice mixed with fresh ginger and topped with an option of tofu or chicken; and sweet potatoes roasted with a reduced sodium teriyaki sauce glaze.

“I’ve seen school kids really enjoying sweet potatoes,” Berdan said. “A hint of teriyaki glaze (gives) it flavor, a little saltiness.”

Each CNP manager received recipes for the three dishes Berdan served along with recipes for two additional dishes.

“(He’s) sharing some wonderful recipes we can incorporate into our menus,” Bonner said, noting Berdan’s tips, tricks and recipes can be applied to HCS menus right away.