A new look for lunch: Goodbye hot Cheetos, hello vegetarian options

Healthy, sustainable items dominate Dallas ISD’s new menus

A green-leaf logo on each day’s menu identifies vegetarian items. New items this year include the “rojo fiesta pizza” (a crust topped with refried beans, salsa and cheese), “vegetarian dippers” (cheese toast with marinara), three-bean chili, and a spinach and cheese flatbread. “We have a fairly large population of people who don’t want to eat meat for all kinds of reasons, and we’re trying to address that,” says Margaret Lopez, Dallas ISD director of nutrition, noting the district’s 75 different home languages that include cultural and religious food parameters, as well as families who are vegetarian for environmental reasons.

Two antibiotic-free chicken options will be featured on this year’s menu: the chicken nuggets and the grilled chicken sandwich.

High school menus are moving from a one-week to a two-week cycle. Menus already offer eight entrées daily, and add a monthly featured item to the standard menu. In September, the feature is “chic penne” with whole wheat pasta, fresh broccoli florets, a variety of cheeses and grilled chicken. “People kind of get stuck in a rut and gravitate to the same thing,” Lopez says. “This is an effort to put a few more choices out there.”

Hot ‘n Spicy Chex Mix

Serving size: ~1 oz

Calories: 110

Fat: 3.5 g

Sodium: 160 mg