U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar won the Minnesota congressional delegation friendly hotdish competition Wednesday between herself and her fellow Minnesota senators and representatives.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken proposed the competition to all of his colleagues as a way to bring the delegation together at the start of the new session and to celebrate Minnesota before tackling the issues facing the state.

Klobuchar won with her taconite tater-tot hotdish. U.S. Rep Tim Walz’s chicken mushroom wild rice hotdish was the runner up.

The other members prepared the following hotdishes: Franken, wild rice and turkey hotdish; Rep. Betty McCollum, pork, cranberry and wild rice hotdish; Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Oktoberfeast; and Rep. Keith Ellison, tuna noodle.

Former Congressmen Vin Weber and Gerry Sikorski along with MinnPost reporter Derek Wallbank blind-tested each dish before deeming Klobuchar’s the winner.

“Given the fine quality of the other hotdishes, this is truly an honor,” Klobuchar said. “I think the combination of the tater tots, pepper jack cheese and unique taconite hot dish name gave us the edge.”

Participants’ recipes can be found by going to http://franken.senate.gov/?p=hot_topic&id=1272.