Sydney Tyner was barely a toddler when she started helping her mom in the kitchen. By the time she entered kindergarten, she not only was comfortable holding a knife but also knew how to use it.
“I just got pretty good at it,” the 11-year-old Ross resident said of her culinary skills, which grew to include everything from frying eggs for breakfast and stirring together homemade spaghetti sauce to composing a colorful salad.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“She’s been my best sous chef since she was 18 months old,” said her mother, Amy, executive chef at Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Garden. “We’re always in the kitchen together.”
Now a sixth-grader at North Hills’ McIntyre Elementary, Sydney has sauteed, chopped, minced and diced her way to a meal at the White House, as the Pennsylvania winner of the fourth annual Healthy Lunchtime Challenge.
As part of first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative, the nationwide contest promotes cooking and healthy eating among children ages 8 to 12. It also has a hint of glamour: Winners from each state, along with Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and District of Columbia, get to join the first lady for the Kids’ State Dinner on July 10.
“Actually it’s lunch,” said Sydney, who was on vacation in California when the surprise call came that she’d created the best dish in her home state. “And we also get to tour the White House,” she added excitedly, and take a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where Julia Child’s kitchen is on display.
The 55 winning recipes -- chosen from almost 1,000 entries -- were selected based on their healthfulness, originality, affordability and faithfulness to USDA’s MyPlate recommendations. And, of course, taste mattered, because to get kids to eat something that’s good for them, it has to be flavorful.
The rules also required a good story behind the dish, and Sydney had one to tell.
When her stepmother, Alicia, got breast cancer three years ago, “We were really scared and had to eat healthy,” she said. “I had to try all kinds of new foods” that were good for the body, which led to more experimenting in the kitchen.
The recipe she came up with for the contest, which her mom learned about at work, was born out of a fresh corn salsa that they make with vegetables from their garden each year, and is a favorite topping for tacos.
“Everything is fresh,” Sydney said.
After fiddling with a few ideas, she hit on a winner: a tostada-like baked Chicken Taco Tower, made extra healthy, she said, with fresh lime juice and avocado.
She liked the idea of a taco not just because it’s a kid’s favorite food, but because the dish allows for a lot of freedom. “You always can put on other toppings, and change it up to make it better,” Sydney said.
When she was told this spring she’d gotten through the first round, “I literally went outside and started singing and dancing,” Sydney said.
And when she learned she was a winner last week? “My first reaction was, ’You’d better be kidding me!’ I thought it was a joke,” Sydney said.
Which cooking, for her, most definitely is not.
“I really enjoy it,” she said, “It’s a great way to express yourself.”
Amy Tyner, who is trying to get the dish on the menu at Phipps, said she couldn’t be more proud of her daughter.
“It’s one thing when you can share your passion with your kid, but when the outcome is as great as this, it’s beyond belief,” Ms. Tyner said.
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Chicken Taco Tower
This tostada-like dish has only 316 calories per serving but still packs 17 grams of protein. If you can’t find (or don’t like) ground chicken, substitute ground turkey. In the summer, its creator Sydney Tyner said, “we use vegetables out of our own garden. It taste even better then.”
For taco meat
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/3 cup peeled and diced onion
1/3 cup diced green bell pepper
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 pound ground chicken
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup fat-free refried beans
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon lime juice
Pinch of salt
6 6-inch corn tortillas
Shredded low-fat cheddar cheese, for serving
Shredded romaine lettuce, for serving
For salsa
1 ear corn, shucked
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 diced tomato
1 tablespoon peeled and minced onion
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 tablespoon lime juice
Salt to taste
Make chicken taco meat: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper and saute for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then add chicken and cook, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon, for about 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Add chili powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until water is almost gone. Stir in refried beans and cook for about 3 minutes, or until beans are incorporated. Add cilantro, lime juice and salt.
Lightly grease both sides of tortillas with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and place on large baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, or until crisp.
Make salsa: In medium bowl, combine all salsa ingredients.
To assemble the Taco Tower: Divide the chicken-bean mixture among the baked tortillas. Top with cheddar cheese and romaine lettuce. Finish with a heaping tablespoon of the salsa.
Makes 6 tacos.
Gretchen McKay: gmckay@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1419 or on Twitter @gtmckay.
First Published: June 24, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
