When I first heard about The Cooking Project, I knew it was something that I wanted to be involved in. The Cooking Project focuses on teaching youth how to cook delicious, inexpensive food from a diversity of cultural traditions. Oftentimes the youth are at risk or are experiencing homelessness so the organisers try to be sensitive about teaching meals that aren’t necessarily technique intensive nor are they using ingredients that are hard to come by. Simple, accessible, delicious. Stuff like this is right up my alley.
For the meal that I taught, I tried to keep it simple and was hoping more to just connect with the participants and offer something that was easy to prepare, presented well and was nutrient dense. Most of all I just wanted to get them laughing, sharing and then we could sit down and eat together.
Food = Connection
Recipe Follows.
Chinese Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Here’s what you are going to need to feed 4-6 people:
1 pound of linguine – any noodle will do but I like wide and flat ones
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3 scallions, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh gingerroot
1 cup water
1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes or a squirt or two of hot sauce
2 Tablespoons minced cilantro
Assorted vegetables
1 bunch of kale
3 carrots
Mung bean sprouts
Toasted sesame seeds
Feeds 6 people
Prepare the Peanut Sauce
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3 scallions, chopped fine
2 Tablespoons minced cilantro
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh gingerroot
1 cup water
1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
In a saucepan heat oil over moderate heat until hot but not smoking and cook scallions, garlic and ginger, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer, stirring. Simmer sauce, stirring, until smooth and cool to room temperature. Sauce may be made up to 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. If sauce is too thick after chilling, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water until sauce reaches desired consistency.
Preparing the Veggies
You can use whatever veggies that you like in this but make sure that they are cut fine in order to mix well with the noodles. If you’re going to use greens like kale or cabbage, it’s nice to either massage them with some olive oil to help break them down or sautee them in a pan. Today in class we did it both ways so that you could see how they came out.
Massaged or Sauteed Kale
Carrots marinated with sesame oil, salt and cider vinegar
Sprouts
Toasted Sesame Seeds
Preparing the Noodles
1 lb of linguine – cooked according to the directions on the box
Pull the meat off of one rotisserie chicken – mixed with a couple of lbs of cooked linguine and you should be able to feed 8-10 people.
Toss the now cooked noodles with the peanut sauce until evenly coated and then mix in your vegetables and chicken. Sprinkle with the minced cilantro and sesame seeds.
Eat!
