Mayor’s Wellness Challenge proves healthy cooking is easy, delicious

Tevy Sun of Sweet Bakery knew that it wasn’t a typical cooking challenge when she was asked to hide the plates of delicious-looking cookies and confections that are a hallmark of her Clayton bakery.
“No sugar or processed foods are allowed on display,” said Cindy Gershen, founder of the Wellness City Challenge and organizer of the Sixth Annual Mayor’s Healthy Food Cook-off, which was held July 31 at Concord’s Todos Santos Plaza.
Indeed, this was not your grandma’s cooking challenge. Teams made up of mayors from 11 Contra Costa cities — or their representatives — along with a chef from one of their local restaurants were given a grocery bag containing chicken, grains from Concord Grocery Outlet and fresh produce from Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association, and charged with creating a dish that was not only presented attractively, but delicious and healthy as well.
The teams were aided by some ringers, students from Gershen’s Sustainable Hospitality program at Mt. Diablo High School, who are learning how to prepare healthy and sustainable meals from their own garden at the school.
Sun, who was a last minute stand-in for Clayton’s challenge, didn’t seem daunted by having to put away the sugary treats, as she and Councilman Jim Diaz proceeded to create a tasty lettuce wrap and a version of her signature chicken salad. Voila.
In the booth next door, Concord Mayor Tim Grayson had some tense moments waiting for his teammate, John Acuna from The Big C restaurant, to arrive. He was forced to flex some civic muscle when Acuna said he was unable to park at the busy plaza to unload his cache of spices.
But after a quick intervention by Grayson and planning commissioner Tim McGallian, Acuna arrived and quickly got to work dicing chicken and searing fruits and vegetables for a savory curried chicken.
“This is a great event,” Grayson said as he chopped strawberries. “This shows that there are healthier options than the ones we grew up with. We are teaching the younger generation early how to eat right.”
The Wellness City Challenge is a local non-profit that partners with schools, restaurants and other agencies to promote healthier lifestyles, especially in food choices.
Concord and Clayton were joined by teams from Antioch, Danville, Martinez, Moraga, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, San Pablo, San Ramon and Walnut Creek.
“These teams are raising the bar this year,” Gershen said, as she surveyed the gourmet dishes coming out of the Iron Chef-style competition. “And the fact is, we can all do this at home—and in our schools.”
Her healthy food movement is already making a dent in such institutionalized systems as school lunch programs. “Quinoa and lentils are already being served in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District,” she said. “That’s a huge step.”
The “secret ingredient” each team had was surely the student sous chefs from Mt. Diablo High School. In the Clayton booth, senior Shelby Cooper deftly braised tofu strips to add to the sandwich, offering advice to Sun and Diaz.
“I told them not to go heavy on the spices,” she said.
Next door, senior Hector Medina grilled a peach to go along with the curried chicken over lentils. “I don’t know if I’m going into the culinary arts after high school,” he said. “But at least I have options.”
When the smoke had cleared and the hour-and-a-half challenge was complete, Antioch came away as the grand prize winner, followed by Danville and Pleasant Hill. Clayton’s dish came in a respectable fourth place. The top three teams will compete against Alameda County’s top three teams in a cook-off in October.
The judging panel was made up of local civic leaders, food service employees and laymen, but they all had one universal comment.
“We were blown away by how good the food was,” said Kish Rajan, Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. “This shows that we can make a difference to ourselves, and the environment, buy what we choose to put in our bodies.”
For more information on the Wellness City Challenge, visit the website www.wellnesscitychallenge.org.