Sprouts classes have ended for the summer, but we celebrated the success of our second harvest in a big way.

We held a Sprouts Cropped! Cooking Competition — a garden take on the hit Food Network Show “Chopped.”

The event was a huge success, giving kids a chance to work with a chef to create a garden-fresh dish using garden ingredients.   The teams also had to highlight the use of a cancer-fighting ingredient from a list provided by The Hormel Institute.

The event began with the kids strategizing with the chef to determine what type of food to make, harvesting ingredients from the Sprouts garden and then preparing a winning dish to be presented to a trio of judges.

It was a very close race, as both teams prepared delicious and colorful recipes that featured healthy ingredients from the garden.  A winning team had to be selected, and it was Team Carrot led by Chef Howie Crawford from Hormel, whose team prepared Garden Pinwheels.

In second place was Team Tomato led by Chef Kristine Merten from Hy-Vee, whose team created Garden Vegetable Pizza.

But the real winners were all the kids who participated in this event — because what wasn’t awarded but was achieved was an extreme enhancement of enthusiasm about eating and preparing vegetables that created memories to last a lifetime.

A huge thank you goes out to all our participants, especially our judges: Todd Hepler, store director at Austin Hy-Vee;  Melanie Bloom (former) morning show anchor at ABC 6 News; and Dr. Yuan Sun from The Hormel Institute.

These judges donated their time and energy to make this an entertaining time for all.  Also a thank you to The Hormel Institute, Kids Korner and the Austin YMCA for being involved in the second season of Sprouts.  It will only grow from here.

Garden pinwheels-Team Carrot

Makes 4 wraps; serves 8

 All you need

•4 large spinach-flavor tortillas

•8 slices Colby jack cheese, divided

•8 slices Di Lusso Reduced-Sodium Turkey, divided

•8 fresh basil leaves, divided

•8 Swiss chard leaves, divided

•½ cup halved cherry tomatoes

•½ cucumber, diced

•1 carrot, shredded

•½ cup dried cranberries

•8 strawberries, sliced

•2-3 tablespoons Newman’s Own Light Raspberry Vinaigrette

 All you do

1. Lay tortillas on flat surface.

2. Layer the following ingredients onto each wrap: 2 slices cheese, 2 slices turkey, 2 basil leaves and 2 Swiss chard leaves.

3. Combine halved cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, shredded carrots, cranberries and strawberries with vinaigrette. Toss gently and scoop into center of tortilla.

4. Gently roll tortilla, while folding in ends. Secure with toothpicks and cut into pinwheels.

Garden Vegetable Pizza-Team Tomato

Makes 1 pizza; serves 3-4

All you need

•½ cup traditional hummus

•1 pre-cooked whole grain pizza crust

•1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

•½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

•½ cup halved cherry tomatoes

•¼ cup sliced black olives

•½ cucumber, diced

•½ onion, diced

•Fresh basil, thinly sliced

•Fresh cracked black pepper

All you do

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread hummus onto crust.

2. Top the pizza in the following order: mozzarella, Parmesan, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, onions, basil and black pepper.

3. Bake 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.