Massena school lunch items so popular with students, families are requesting recipes
Mar. 17—MASSENA — Some of the new menu items included in the Massena Central School District's food service program have proven so popular with students that families are requesting the recipes.
Among them was a marinated black bean salad, which school officials said was popular with students and staff and would be returning on future menus.
"This salad got so much love!" they said in a Facebook post.
That prompted families to request the recipe so they could make it at home. Superintendent Ronald P. Burke said another school asked for it as well.
"A number of parents and staff have requested the recipe for the black bean salad provided at lunch," Burke said. "It is a real honor that community members are seeking the recipe for some of the meals that we are able to serve. I am grateful to our entire food service staff for their desire to prepare new and tasty foods for our students."
Another recipe that was requested because of its popularity and sent to families was cinnamon biscuits.
"I will try to continue to share out those popular recipes," Burke said. "Kudos to Mrs. Colarusso-Martin (Food Service Director Kristin E. Colarusso-Martin) and all the work that she's doing there."
Most recently, the district's cooks made 30 pans of shepherd's pie for Pi Day on Thursday. It was served with milk, sweet corn, a salad bar at the high school, and fresh fruit including bananas, pears, apples and oranges.
Other menu items offered in March include "walking tacos", quesadilla pizza with refried beans, tangerine chicken with rice, crispy chicken parmesan on a roll, and lasagna rollups.
As a special treat on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, all of the cafeterias offered strawberry milk as a milk choice for students. White and chocolate milk were still available.
The meals were available to all students free of charge thanks to the district's participation in the Community Eligibility Provision, a non-pricing meal service option for schools and school districts in low-income areas. CEP allows the nation's highest poverty schools and districts to serve breakfast and lunch at no cost to all enrolled students without collecting household applications.
"I think probably one of the best things that any school can do is the Community Eligibility program, which is free breakfast and lunch for all, and we can see the success of that here in Massena. We've talked at length before about the sheer volume and increase in the number of meals being served on a daily basis, and the number is just truly remarkable. We're looking at around 1,500 lunches a day, so that's a very sizeable portion of our student body that's availing themselves of that," Burke said.
He said they can expect more food options in the future, including plant-based meals, which school board member Robert M. LeBlanc has promoted.
'For the month of March you will see that there is an all plant-based option a couple of days. We are also looking at the all plant-based option recipes that are now being implemented in New York City. I believe there are either 26 or 30 recipes that are USDA approved. It certainly has caught Mrs. Colarusso-Martin's attention," he said. "It's a little bit of a slow rollout because of availability and making sure that we can do this. We also want to make sure that it's something that is sustainable by students and faculty really actually wanting it. But hopefully we'll be continuing to move in that direction as well as an option."
