Filipino-American Cristeta Pasia-Comerford, the first woman and first minority to serve as the executive chef in the White House, credited the first lady for making sure her family eats steamed, organic vegetables from the garden Michelle Obama planted in April, reports the Washington Examiner. “Mrs. Obama is a very hands-on person when it comes … to knowing healthy meals for the family,” Comerford told a news conference in Manila. She was one of three honored Sept.1 by the Bank of the Philippines as an outstanding Filipino overseas. The naturalized American said that picking food from the garden reminds her of summers spent at her grandmother’s house in the Philippines’ Bulacan province. “They like simple meals, they like simple food,” she said of the first family. The first lady had said earlier that she and Comerford shared a “perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families.” Comerford, who also served under former President George W. Bush, studied French cooking in Vienna, Austria, and specializes in ethnic and American cuisine..
