Nutrition, economics and environmental sustainability. Based on these three criteria, secondary school students rolled up their sleeves and wore their aprons in a pioneering contest launched by the Faculty of Biotechnology at the Universidade Católica. Twelve dishes won the challenge.

The usual three categories – starter, main course and dessert -, precept ingredients, concerns and solutions, imagination and daring enough, prizes at stake. The contest started and the best proposals stood out. In the starters, four dishes stand out. The vegetable wrap on a bed of pumpkin with a head of broccoli, a sprig of turnip greens, hazelnuts and chopped walnuts, among other ingredients, took first place. The recipe is from Colégio de Lamas, in Santa Maria da Feira.

Second, ex-aequo, three innings. White cabbage springrolls with banana peel “meat” filling, from Colégio Luso-Fracês. The banana peels are soaked in a bowl with water and two tablespoons of vinegar for 15 minutes. Another entry of pumpkin leaf hummus, from Escola Secundária Padre Benjamim Salgado, in Vila Nova de Famalicão, with various ingredients and mixtures of chickpeas, Greek yogurt, and a touch of cider vinegar. The humus bonbons with mushroom soup and chestnut crumble, from Colégio Luso-Francês, were also in third place. This is a recipe that uses chickpea cooking water.

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