HISD’S Food Services department has unveiled a new page on its website that features fantastically yummy and healthy recipes from district Chef Ryan Ng for families to try at home.
Working alongside Nutrition Education Dietitian Jennifer Griffin Lengyel, Ng spent about four weeks developing an initial database of ten recipes and collecting them on a page dubbed the Chef’s Corner.
“I wanted to give families some healthy items they could cook at home, together,” said Ng. “These will not be the same old boring recipes. They will use different flavors and textures to create a unique and healthy experience.”
Current offerings include curried spaghetti squash, three-bean chili, stuffed bell peppers, and chili-chocolate brownies. Recipes designed for use over the holidays included classic roasted turkey, sweet potato spice cake, and New Year’s black-eyed peas.
Chef Ng will post at least one new recipe per month for families to enjoy. This month’s selections are chocolate avocado mousse and heart-lover’s pizza. Each one is user-friendly and incorporates ingredients available at any local grocery store.
In addition to the monthly recipes, Ng and Lengyel will also begin highlighting one local Houston eatery as “Restaurant of the Month,” and include one healthy entrée from each that was prepared and taste-tested by the duo.
Ng was hired last July as a research and development chef to create innovative recipes that meet the dietary, budgetary, culinary, and marketing requirements of the Food Services program. Ng oversees new product development and recipe testing at the Food Services Support Facility and works closely with the nutrition services team and culinary leadership to develop innovative menus.
A graduate of Texas A&M University, Ng earned his culinary stripes at the Academy of Culinary Arts at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has been certified as a culinarian and a pastry culinarian by the American Culinary Federation.
HISD Food Services provides high-quality nutritious meals to more than 200,000 students every school day. The department produces, prepares, and serves more than 19 million breakfast meals and 28 million lunch meals annually.