Teen Chefs' Pasta Dishes Win Scholarships in Nationwide C-CAP Meatless Monday Recipe Contest

NEW YORK, June 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Winners of the 2014 C-CAP Meatless Monday Pasta Recipe Contest were announced today by Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), the national leader providing scholarships, education, and career opportunities in the culinary arts to disadvantaged youth, and Meatless Monday, an initiative of the nonprofit The Monday Campaigns, which provides healthy and environmentally friendly information and recipes.

The recipe contest winners are from New York, Los Angeles, and DC/Prince George's County, Maryland:

1^st prize: $5,000 scholarship — New York: Danielle Rivers of Food and Finance High School in Manhattan for Pappardelle with Mushrooms, Baby Spinach and Roasted Tomato Sauce

1^st prize: $5,000 scholarship —Los Angeles: Briana Bernardez of Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies of Los Angeles for Pasta Frittata

3^rd prize: $2,000 scholarship —DC/Prince George's County: Jasmine Lewis of Gwynn Park High School in Prince George's County, Maryland (Washington, DC area) for Vegetable Curry Pasta.

Thousands of C-CAP high school seniors became head chefs in their classrooms and were introduced to the Meatless Monday public health campaign encouraging everyone to start each week with a healthy meal. While working with their culinary arts teachers to concoct the original pasta entree, the teen chefs were encouraged to use the recipe contest to explore new fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes.

"We're thrilled to team up with C-CAP for our third annual recipe contest.  Our goal is to motivate aspiring chefs to create tasty and healthy meatless meals.  We can't wait for America to taste the winning C-CAP students' imaginative meatless renditions of pasta dishes," says Sid Lerner, founder of the Meatless Monday movement.

Each C-CAP school was invited to submit only one student recipe and photo. Seven finalists were selected and presented to a distinguished panel of judges. Three scholarships were awarded this spring at the C-CAP Cooking Competitions for Scholarships Awards in the hometown of the winning student chefs. The first prize winner(s) from New York and Los Angeles received $5,000 and the third prize winner from DC/Prince George's County received $2,000.  The first prize winner from New York and her teacher were also awarded a Canyon Ranch all-inclusive stay where the student will be able to experience healthy-cooking practices first-hand from Corporate Chef Scott Uehlein.  Additionally, the student will have the opportunity to spend time with a nutritionist to gain further insights into healthy eating.  The teacher will have time to enjoy the spa and also spend time in the kitchen with Canyon Ranch's culinary team. 

"Through this contest, student chefs were guided by their teachers on recipe writing and development and were able to showcase their talent creating exciting meatless recipes," says C-CAP president Susan Robbins. "We greatly appreciate The Monday Campaigns providing high school seniors with the opportunity for scholarships while promoting healthy eating in high schools and communities throughout the nation."

The recipe submissions were judged on originality, flavor, healthfulness, ease of preparation, and writing ability. The judges evaluating the submissions for the C-CAP Meatless Monday Healthy Pasta Recipe Contest were:  Marisa May, Co-Owner SD26 and Matteo Bergamini, Executive Chef SD26; Diana Rice, RD, Recipe Editor of meatlessmonday.com; Scott Uehlein, Corporate Chef of Canyon Ranch.

To see the winning recipes, photos of the winners, and for more information about Meatless Monday, visit http://www.meatlessmonday.com and C-CAP, www.ccapinc.org or contact us:

Acknowledgment:  Thank you to Ronzoni and Jarlsberg for their product contribution to the schools.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140606/95819

SOURCE The Monday Campaigns