Throw in a dash of community gardens, a pound of culinary imagination, and a cash prize and you have a recipe for a contest seeking the next great salad dressing.

The Bronx Canasta, a contingent of Bronx-based food and social justice groups, has announced a contest that seeks Bronx residents to create their own salad dressing and marinade recipe. Contestants will craft their recipes using ingredients grown at local community gardens grown across the Bronx.

Organizers have taken the pains of prepping a recipe by simply having them submit them online.

The contest has drawn interest from elected officials, including Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who hopes contestants can “bring the flavor of the Bronx to their own special cuisine.” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hopes the contest can be “emulated and copied by community gardens in other areas throughout the country.”

The contest looks to serve the healthcare sector’s ongoing efforts to improve health outcomes in the Bronx, which still ranks the least healthy county in New York State.

Other initiatives that have attempted to encourage healthy eating include the Bronx Salad, a dish cooked up by Chef King Phojanakong, through a collaborative project with SoBro, the Institute for Family Health, and the United Business Cooperative. Other homegrown products utilizing Bronx community gardens include The Bronx Hot Sauce, which organizers say produced $18,000 in profits that was reinvested into participating gardens.

Funding for the most recent contest was made possible through a grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A contest winner will be announced in May. A $500 cash prize will be awarded, courtesy of Small Axe Peppers, to a first-place winner, with the dressing distributed across the Bronx.

Editor’s Note: For more information, including contest details, visit www.bronxcanasta.nyc. The contest starts now, with a deadline of April 15.