GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Eat a bowl of plain oatmeal, vanilla yogurt and a side of saltine crackers — and it still won’t be as bland as what’s served up at hospitals.
Unless, you happen to be at Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids, where the person behind the apron is Jenn Struik.
“Cooking is about love, right?” said Jenn.
She's a dietician at the hospital, a professor at Grand Rapids Community College, and has been working in the world of culinary arts since she was 15.
"I kind of found that niche of doing food as medicine," she said. “When you're in a restaurant or you're doing a bit catering, you don't necessarily have that one-on-one connection with the person. And I think with personal cheffing or being a clinical dietitian, you're learning an entire backstory.”
When she’s not busy balancing two different chef hats, you just might spot her somewhere else — somewhere far from West Michigan.
“So much has happened," Jenn laughed.
It was 2021 when she appeared on an episode of Supermarket Stakeout.
“I won that show," she smiled.
She figured her time competing was over — until she got a call she couldn’t believe.
“You are chosen and you get to go to New York City,” Jenn recited.
She was going to be on Chopped.
“This is a big deal. This is one of the longest running culinary competitions and something that I had basically grown up watching," she said. “You have all these emotions leading up to it. You're excited, you're nervous."
For Jenn, it was a dream served hot — with a side of nightmare.
“To travel to a big city like New York, where you don't have any bearings really about what's going on and then be thrown into this entirely new kitchen with chefs you've never met before, and ingredients, you don't even know what you'll be working with until you open the basket," she said.
“I think my biggest fear going into chopped was that I was going to be getting processed foods," Jenn laughed.
She says the stress you watch on the show is completely real.
“We like to see other people stressed out, and then we start to feel stressed out as well. So we're almost having that human connection through the TV," she said. “Stress is just a natural human response. And they do a very good job at creating it.”
She says she may come off as a fierce competitor on the show.
“You might see this very intimidating person," she said. "I'm not scary, I promise."
Though, it wasn’t long ago that she was a patient herself.
“I had a very serious car accident that required a lot of rehabilitation," she said.
Three years ago, she was on her way to Frankfurt for a weekend getaway when her car slid on ice, went off the road and hit multiple trees.
She suffered multiple injuries, including a spinal fracture, broken left tibia, four broken ribs, a bowel laceration and a dissection of her carotid artery.
She had six pins and a rod put in her back.
It was the rehabilitation process that showed her what it’s like to be on the other side of the care.
“I feel like it's even made me a stronger dietician, as well," Jenn said.
Hospitals may not be known for their food — but at Mary Free Bed, their patients may be served by a Chopped champion.
“They just have to watch," smiled Jenn.
You can watch Struik compete on Chopped Tuesday night at 8 on Food Network.
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