Campus Dining Services is currently accepting recipes through Sept. 20 for their annual Redbird Recipe Contest

Tracy Widergren, marketing director of CDS, said the event began three years ago as a means of producing feedback for campus dining.

This year, alumni are invited to submit recipes to the contest, in addition to students, faculty and staff.

“We heard a growing interest from alum in the past couple years to participate in the contest as well, so we thought we would expand it out to the larger Redbird community,” Widergren said.

Campus Dining’s culinary team grades the submitted dishes on three criteria – perceived appeal, originality, and the ability for the dish to be made in mass quantities.

Widergren said the two categories for competition are main/side dish and desserts/sweets.

Daily Vidette Archive Photo: Jessica Hall, then a junior accounting major, won the 2010 Redbird Recipe Contest for her Thai chicken lettuce wraps. The 2011 contest is currently in full swing. Campus Dining is asking for submissions by Sept. 20.

“Some of the most fun and interesting dishes we have seen in the past couple years have come with a story, [whether] it’s a family favorite or tradition [or if] it holds a special memory for a student, [among others],” Widergren said.

After CDS chooses the finalists, the dishes will be served during Homecoming week at each of the dining centers, where guests will vote for their favorites, Widergren said.

“All dining center guests are invited to taste and vote when the recipes are featured. So really it is open to anyone who chooses to dine with us that day, whether they have a meal plan or pay cash at the door,” Widergren said.

Widergren added that the winners of the event will have their dishes featured during the spring rotation and receive a personalized token to commemorate the win.

“Last year, we engraved recipe books for our winners and provided them with Redbird-themed recipe cards. It is possible the winners would receive something similar this year,” Widergren said.

CDS could add more categories in addition to the current two, main/side dish and dessert/sweets, Widergren added.

“As awareness of the contest grows, we see more submissions, so it is possible we would need to expand the categories over time,” Widergren said. Recipes may be submitted online at dining.illinoisstate.edu.