Today Bill and I walked over to the Taste of Health: Austin Chef Showdown at the Mexican American Cultural Center. The Mayor’s Health and Fitness Council sponsored this free event to promote local restaurants that serve healthy entrees. Fifteen chefs competed.

The Showdown rules included: no fake food, no trans-fat or hydrogenated oils, no added sugar or sweeteners, and use of lean, low-fat or reduced-fat protein. At least half of the entree had to be vegetables.   

Bill and I spent a half-hour wandering around the different tents and tasting the free samples. Several hundred people were there when we were, but the chefs were prepared and there were no long lines at any of the booths. Austinites usually come out in droves for free food so I suspect this wasn’t well-publicized. But I’d say the organizers met their goal since we now have a few more restaurants that we want to try.

Celebrity judges awarded prizes for Fast Food, Kid’s Food, Tex-Mex, Southern Cooking and Other. The public also voted to award Best In Show. Since we had arrived early, we  did not stay until the end to hear who won. Here’s the three restaurants that I voted for:

 Galaxy Cafe: Asian seared tuna salad

Hoover’s: RawBella Platter (Black-eyed peas wrap)