Last week, we invited readers to vote for their favorite ingredients at Cincinnati.com. The more than 800 who voted picked these as the most popular ingredients:

• Salmon

• Spinach

• Asparagus

• Penne pasta

• Cremini mushrooms

• Parmesan cheese

We turned the voting results over to our first Virtual Chef, David Falk of Boca, in Northside, who created a dish using the primary ingredients (he could also use staples from a "pantry list") in his restaurant kitchen. Five readers watched him cook. They tasted and then scored his creation.

The scoring system

• The chef starts with 90 points.

• The chef must use all six of the primary ingredients selected by readers, or he or she loses points.

• For every five minutes under 30 minutes total cooking time, the chef earns one bonus point.

• For every five minutes past 45 minutes total cooking time, the chef is penalized one point.

• The reader "observation panel" tastes and scores the chef's creation on a 1 to 10 point scale. The scores are averaged and added to the chef's total score.

Highest possible score: 106. David Falk's total score: 100.

Look for our next Virtual Chef story April 23.

Chuck Martin