The following comes from a November 10 Chicago Tribune article by Manya Brachear Pashman:

Sister Alicia Torres became the “Chopped” champion on the Food Network’s reality TV cooking show, winning $10,000 for Our Lady of the Angels Mission to provide more home-cooked meals for neighbors in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood.

“The Lord gave me this talent,” Torres told the show’s judges who ribbed her for harboring some secret culinary training. “I believe the kitchen is my canvas where I get to express myself creatively.”

Torres, 30, was one of four chefs cooking with the typical makings of a conventional Thanksgiving dinner — turkey, green beans, potatoes and cranberries — on the special volunteer edition of the show that aired Monday.

In the appetizer round, Torres transformed leftovers into Mexican-style quesadillas.

For the entree, Torres made a Mediterranean-style dish with curry turkey, a sweet potato cranberry hash and a dipping sauce with goat cheese and green beans.

Torres said she has not entertained offers to host her own cooking show. But she does know that whatever the future holds, it “will be for God’s glory and to help serve my brothers and sisters here on the West Side and wherever God calls me to serve.”

Torres helped found the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago on the city’s West Side and recently professed vows. The new Franciscan community is devoted to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, evangelization and service to Chicago’s poor.