Some said the dried cranberry and broccoli salad seemed like a stretch.
But few of them left any in the little plastic cups, and a handful sneaked back for seconds.
"I'm going to make this for sure. This is good," said Alice Chiles, taking another sporkful of broccoli.
Chiles, whose son attends Hardy Elementary School, was one of the parents who, on Tuesday, came to the school for a cooking demonstration and mini-expo on healthy eating.
In addition to the broccoli salad, Tuesday's tasting menu included bananas and grapes in yogurt, and a black bean and corn salad. Next week the school will host a similar event with hot food.
EAT YOUR VEGGIESThanks to the fresh fruits and vegetables grant from the USDA and the Benwood Foundation, produce snacks, such as squash and watermelon are delivered twice a week to students at the following elementary schools:* Orchard Knob* Brown Academy* Calvin Donaldson* Hardy* Harrison
The tasting nights are an extension of a USDA grant that last year provided fresh fruit and vegetable snacks for students at Orchard Knob Elementary. This year the grants were extended to Brown Academy and Calvin Donaldson, followed by matching Benwood Foundation grants to Hardy and Harrison elementary schools.
The professional cooking demonstrations, paid for by Benwood's Gaining Ground initiative, feature professional chef volunteers, including Greenlife Grocery executive chef Charlie Loomis, who was on hand Tuesday.
"We wanted to use fresh produce tonight, but show that you don't necessarily have to cook it," he said.
As he chopped teeny bits of broccoli, he offered suggestions to parents.
"What's also really good is to add some cooked pasta to this, or a little leftover chicken from the night before," he told them.
The fruit and vegetable efforts in the local schools are all about increasing kids' exposure to fresh produce and encouraging parents to feed it to them at home, said Amanda Sanders, special projects coordinator for Hamilton County Schools' coordinated school health department, which sponsored the event along with the child nutrition department.
"Tonight is all about celebrating healthy living," she said. "It's to show how they can provide healthy meals with fresh fruits and vegetables as ingredients, with as much locally grown food as possible."
Parent Karen Jones watches all the cable cooking shows and said she looked forward to making some of the dishes presented Tuesday night for her three children.
"I want to try new foods, and for [my kids] to be there with me when I try it is good," she said.
Jones' son, D'Angelo Sharp, 9, said he was excited to try his mother's new concoctions but had one stipulation.
"It'd better be good," he said.
Contact Kelli Gauthier at kgauthier@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/gauthierkelli.