In my personal farewell to "Dining Month" at OnMilwaukee.com, I had the pleasure of being a judge for a "Healthy Cook-off" Friday afternoon at Tekra Corporation, 16700 W. Lincoln Ave.

Tekra manufactures plastic films and adhesives that are used on laptop screens, SMART boards, cell phones, advertising displays, diabetic test strips and other applications. The company has 155 employees, about 130 of whom work in New Berlin.

As part of a company-wide Wellness Initiative, Tekra brought cooking instructor Staci Joers to the office for a series of cooking demonstrations geared toward healthy ingredients.

About 35 people took part in the program, and several of them created their own healthy dishes for the contest, which I judged along with Joers, company president Andrew Tully and chief financial officer Harry Whelpley.

We tried a number of dishes, all of which were fresh and delicious -- particularly as the mid-afternoon hunger pangs were striking. Items ranged from chili made with pumpkin (another featured venison) to chicken salad, salsa and dessert items.

"Last year, we had a number of people bring in things like salsa," Joers said. "This year, they were a bit more adventurous."

First place in the contest went to Erin Hammes, who brought in a delicious shredded chicken sandwich that did not rely on a bottled sauce for its excellent flavor. Second place went to Jim Dahl, for a salsa that tasted fresh and zippy, with just enough jalapeno kick to rival those served at popular Mexican restaurants in town. Third place went to Andy Danihels, whose "Holy Crap They are Healthy" bars were just as advertised.

"The main idea we talked about was using healthy ingredients and reducing the amount of things like sugar or flour and making substitutions," Joers said. "They all did a good job."