Schools are feeding both hungry minds and mouths on this first day of school this week.
That includes Garland, DeSoto ISD, and Frisco ISDs, which are sending kids back to class on Monday.
The districts have spent the summer crafting fresh and innovative ways to feed students healthy meals to help them learn at their best this year.
Chef Kevin Jenkins of Garland ISD Nutrition Services starts every day with the same mindset.
“We're trying to build that trust with them," Jenkins said.
It's a trust in the process and a belief that the school cafeteria is more than the chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers most of us grew up with.
“There's been this initiative to push just a better style of food into school food and also change the narrative of school food," Jenkins said.
This year, Garland ISD is continuing that mission.
“A big thing is a lot of the food trends that you see on social media and then we just try to replicate that with a little bit more nutritional side to it," Jenkins said.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
One of those new trends in food service includes global flavors. Garland ISD’s nutrition team attended the School Nutrition Association conference over the summer and came out with new ideas, recipes, and inspiration.
Some new global flavors on Garland’s menu this year include curry potatoes using Middle Eastern spices.
“We're trying to expand their palates and get them introduced to more global flavors," said Jenkins.
The new Fiesta Lasagna features an Aztec spice blend and a creative way of sneaking in those veggies. The same spice blend can be used in meats to make tacos, chicken dishes, and other recipes.
“Our fiesta lasagna has a bunch of vegetables inside of it and once you take it once they taste it, they'll understand like hey this is healthy for me but it's also delicious," said Jenkins.
Another new dish that will be served to students this fall uses a half can of tomato soup combined with fresh blended roasted vegetables and paired with a toasted cheese sandwich.
“During this season they're very peak in freshness and sweetness and so we're able to bring out a lot of that taste in the tomato soup once we roast them all together with some onions some basil,” said Jenkins.
It’s all a fine balance of both taste and following federal guidelines for lower sugar and salt levels that are listed in the National School Lunch Program. Click here to learn more about the nutritional requirements for school lunches.
“Not just going directly into adding salt that's why we try to source local produce so we can develop a lot of that flavor from all the produce," said Jenkins.
Meanwhile, DeSoto ISD is planning some big things this year after recently hiring Whitsons Culinary Group to run their nutrition program.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“We make sure that we have the freshest ingredients, scratch cooking, and to make sure that the kids are enjoying their meal,” said David Southall, general manager of the child nutrition program for DeSoto ISD.
This year, they plan to focus on using vegetables from local gardens.
“These local gardens are actually planted and maintained by the students, and we take those plants and vegetables and incorporate that into their meals during the lunch day," said Southall.
The district also created a special offering of 'Seoul Tacos' for middle and high schools this year – a Korean BBQ fusion taco with marinated steak and house-made kimchi.
“It gives the students the opportunity to experience a restaurant-style atmosphere inside of their cafeteria," said Southall.
Like Garland ISD, Frisco ISD's Child Nutrition program attended the same national conference and it came back with a wave of fresh ideas and inspiration in the kitchen.
"It's always so inspiring and good to get a lot of network opportunities. They've got a lot of great ideas and they've got a giant food show exhibit where you go in and see all of the different foods that they offer nationwide," said Lisa Jenkins, the child nutrition director for Frisco ISD.
This year, the school district is also launching a line of new menu items for students when they come back to class this week.
"We are offering a cherry blossom chicken, which is a whole mussel popcorn chicken with a cherry blossom sauce over rice. We're also going to continue to offer the chicken enchilada empanada that we introduced last year," said Lisa Jenkins.
At the high schools, the district will continue a made-to-order bar, which had Tex-Mex last year. However, due to new requests for expanded recipes, Frisco ISD will add Indian and Asian cuisine that's made-to-order, in addition to a pasta and potato bowl line.
"We'll be rotating through those bars every week. So that's exciting and new," said Lisa Jenkins.
For the elementary schools, the district will start doing a Wellness Wednesday starting in September.
"We are going to incorporate an educational snack, which is a sweet cracker that's going to have information on it in regards to our fruits and vegetables that we offer," said Lisa Jenkins. "For example, it'll have vitamin C at the top and broccoli with a picture of broccoli on that cookie.
In addition, the district will have a virtual magazine that will be sent out to families that has information on the fruits and vegetables that are served to students.
"So hopefully, with all of that information, the kids will read those little crackers that they're getting and learn something about the food that they're eating as well," said Lisa Jenkins.
Frisco ISD is also putting a focused effort on Indian and Asian cuisine catering to its ever-changing student population.
Experts say these innovative menus are vital for not only hungry minds but also for students who might not have the means to eat healthily at home.
“I think one of the main reasons it's so important for us to offer these healthy meals is so everybody's kind of on the same playing field, right? They all have the same opportunities for these healthy meals," said Lisa Jenkins.
