Eleanor Cowell recalls the joy of being a young reader returning home from the library, sitting in a comfy chair and poring over the books she had borrowed. One of her early favorites: "The Joy of Cooking," by Irma S. Rombauer.
"I love it because there are so many recipes," Eleanor said.
In the years since then, she has spent many a day in the kitchen, kneading pizza dough from scratch and whipping up homemade macadamia nut pesto — "I like a fresh pesto best. Macadamia nuts are tastier and creamier than pine nuts, which have a short, nutty flavor. But they’re good, too."
Not bad for an 8-year-old.
And great for Hawaii, which has quite a representative this year in Eleanor at first lady Michelle Obama’s "state dinner" for the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Eleanor is one of 54 youths ages 8 to 12 whose winning recipes earned them a place at Obama’s luncheon table.
For the second year, Obama sponsored a nationwide contest for children to present healthful, original and affordable lunch meals. More than 1,300 meals from all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia were entered.
Eleanor’s winning lunch, Curry Chicken Salad & Taste of the Tropics, features curry chicken with quinoa and bell pepper served in a lettuce cup with raita, a yogurt sauce. Taste of the Tropics is a fruit salad of apricot, strawberries and bananas served with yogurt and topped with shredded unsweetened coconut. Eleanor used bananas and mint from her own garden in the recipe.
The young Palolo cook’s inspiration for the lunch came from a particularly good restaurant meal.
"Mom and I went out for lunch, and she had a Moroccan chicken salad. I liked how it was spiced, so I thought, why can’t I make a salad of my own?"
After hearing about Obama’s contest, Eleanor and her mother, Lara Cowell, got to work. Mom started Eleanor off with an array of curry spices, including cumin, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, cloves and coriander. ("These are the secrets to good curry flavor," Eleanor said.)
"It took me just one try, but we tasted as we cooked," she said. "Mom asked what we needed — ‘More cumin?’ — then we added some if I said yes."
Eleanor, who will be entering third grade at Punahou School this fall, said the family "usually eyeballs everything," but for the sake of the contest was careful to keep track of amounts.
One requirement of the challenge was that meals meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate criteria for balanced nutrition.
"I added things I like and things that are good for you," Eleanor said. "It’s easy to come up with ideas, but they’re not always nutrition powerhouses. It’s easy to use rice or couscous, but (the recipe) should be as healthy as possible."
Eleanor’s parents said their daughter has always shown a love of food and cooking. She was tossing salad when she was 2.
"She borrowed cookbooks from the library at a young age, so she was imagining cooking before she actually cooked," Michael Cowell said.
Eleanor’s interest in food runs the gamut from gardening to creating recipes.
"One of the beauties of cooking is that it’s more than producing something with your own hands. It’s a springboard to other things, such as garden-to-table meals. Now, Eleanor is a careful gardener," said Lara Cowell.
"Gardening helps you have good taste," Eleanor added. "If you see the different stages of a plant, you know whether an herb you have would be good for your dish. If it’s an old herb, it might be too bitter for a certain dish, for example."
She says she loves discovering unique recipes. Some of her favorite cookbooks are "The Pink Princess Cookbook," "The Mermaid Cookbook" and "The Ballerina Cookbook," all designed for children.
How do they hold up against "The Joy of Cooking"?
"I choose my cookbooks very carefully," Eleanor said. "Most kids’ cookbooks usually just have stuff like chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies with sprinkles, or an ice cream sundae."
Such one-dimensionality does not please this whole-food advocate.
"I don’t like kids’ menus. I always ask for a regular menu," she said. "Even the ‘healthy’ menu items aren’t as healthy as they could be.
"Many kids like candy, cookies, hot dogs and don’t like fruits and vegetables. Maybe their parents don’t experience these things with them.
"They should try kale, chard or even pumpkin bread, something with vegetables put in it. Maybe their kids would like it. Kids take on what their relatives do."
