Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer Created: 11/14/2010 06:51:22 PM PST
Lynn Casella of La Verne whips up an Italian sausage Tuscan vegetable soup while competing in the Aetna Healthy Food Fight cooking contest. (Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Staff Photographer Created: 11/14/2010 06:51:22 PM PST)
POMONA – The sweet smell of sautéed onions spread throughout Fairplex as Lynn Casella attempted to wow the judges on Sunday with her version of Tuscan vegetable soup.
Casella, of La Verne, was one of the 48 amateur chefs competing over the weekend in the Aetna Heathy Food Fight cooking contest.
“There are some great dishes,” said one of the judges, Chef Cat Cora of Food Network’s “Iron Chef America.” “There were three salmon recipes in the first round and they had to cook it on the spot, make sure it’s done but not dry, and then do a presentation. It’s a tough thing to do. They are really doing a good job.”
The Pomona cook-off was the last of the 10 regional events held around the nation.Last summer,
Aetna Life Insurance Co. invited everyone to submit their original healthy recipes.
In the first round of competition, the Culinary Institute of America selected the top 48 recipes from each of the 10 regions, favoring those with highest nutritional value.
Casella and others who submitted winning recipes were invited to one of the 10 cook-offs. The dishes were judged on their nutritional value, taste and presentation, officials said.
The winner of each cook-off will have a chance to compete on Thursday for the grand prize – $10,000 in Kitchen Aid appliances donated by Lowe’s.
The final event, in which the contestants will have to cook a Thanksgiving Day meal, will be judged by Iron Chef Bobby Flay.
Nicole and Tim Johnson of San Dimas came to cheer on their cousin, Victoria Brown of Wisconsin. She was cooking oatmeal patties filled with string beans and roasted artichokes.
“There are some great ideas on how to cook healthy,” Nicole Johnson said. “We will try to make the turkey vegetable chilli.”
The mastermind behind the chilli recipe was Barri Segal of Los Angeles.
“It’s just something that my child would eat,” Segal said.
Inspiration for Casella’s recipe came from her family also.
“I married a `Siciliano,”‘ she said laughing. “You had to learn mother-in-law’s cooking.”
Casella said she was not nervous preparing the soup for celebrity judges such as Cora.
“It’s terrific that she will taste my food but my greatest critics are people I cook for at home,” Casella said. “And they like it.”
The name of the winner of the Pomona cook-off is to be posted today at the sponsor’s Web site, www.healthyfoodfight.com.
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