Today's FRESH:
*Vegetable stir fry with peanut sauce;
*Napa cabbage salad with cilantro and roasted peanuts;
*Rice pudding with quinoa, flax, and coconut

Jasper and Sergio harvesting the never ending chard. Every week we use chard in something, and every week theres more! We also picked fresh sweet peas, a head of cauliflower for the stir fry, and some salad greens. Sadly, the beautiful little brussels were covered with aphids....and freaked the kids out.




















Fortunately no one had peanut allergies....the kids' peanut sauce was outstanding - garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut butter, and tons of fresh veggies.








And the verdict? Two thumbs up!!

FRESH slam

MENU:
*Tuscan white bean salad w/ garlic-sauteed garden chard;
*Tri colored crostini w/ pesto, red-pepper spread, and tofu-garlic pate;
*Fresh green salad with shredded beets, carrots, and green goddess dressing;
*Strawberry-chocolate tarts w/ organic granola crust, ricotta-mint filling,
and vegan-chocolate filling





Today I REALLY had no time to take photos, only managed to snap some quick ones. There was a last minute poetry slam in the courtyard during workshop, so our class had a little audience. We did our best to cook quietly, I ran around whispering directions, while listening to some absolutely incredible works.....



The students' poetry blew me away. Even moved to tears. Some kids I remember back from 8th grade, squirrelly punks turned graceful young-adult poets.



Wanted to get a picture of our beautiful lettuce, chard, and kale before picking....sent Jake running to the garden to pick more during class. Amazing how much an armful of kale/chard cooks down....


Students' comments "how cool is this that we can pick stuff straight from the garden to cook in class!" made my day. That's what this is all about.....from garden to table, fresh organic foods grown without petroleum, without pesticides, prepped with care, and eaten together, in community.

Today's FRESH: Mediterranean-style
Had I known the vultures would descend so quickly, and had such an appetite for falafel, I would've made more! Food disappeared today in about point 5.


*Homemade Hummus w/ Whole Wheat Pita
*Falafel
*Greek Salad
*Super-local Sauteed Califlower and Chard - from our garden.
*Fruit Platter



Sergio deeply focused on tomato-prep;












Girls rock the Greek Salad.....
and an artistic fruit platter below. How'd Jasper sneak in that photo?






















Makin' hummus, and using some mad math skills in the process, multiplying recipe by about 7.



The crowd gathers, food evaporates, and the response:




thumbs up, just make more next time!

Today's FRESH Menu:
*Roasted vegetable medly w/ balsamic vinagrette;
*Bruchetta w/ garlic, sweet basil and olive oil;
*Kiwi-strawberry-tangerine fruit tarts; (vegan and non)





Billy and Lilly creating edible fruit-art. The decorating skills of these kids,.....















Antonia and Jasper grilling organic veggies and toasting bruschetta....











.....and preparing for the onslaught.








Too little time to take many pix.....nor did last week's taco bar - homemade tortillas, salsa, guacamole, black beans and rice, and sweet plantains - leave time for photos..... We did talk a bit about why were doing this - that our food system requires TREMENDOUS amounts of petroleum, and that eating local/organic is a huge step towards curbing our oil appetite.

Time to start recording some of our New Roads experimental organic cooking experiences. Always chaos, always fun, and always super tasty thanks to our local farmers, our Master Gardener Herb, and the creative efforts of my FRESH students.....











Harvesting the Jerusalem Artichokes. Planted last spring, grown 15 feet, and yielding a staggering amount of food.






Antonia and Kamilah skeptical of these so called "artichokes"; Isis amused....













Displaying the.....tubers of our labor?




And Billy working his culinary magic, as always.









MENU:
*Penne w/ tomato basil sauce, topped w/ garlic-sauteed jerusalem artichokes;
*Garden fresh salad w/ sliced apples, crumbled feta, and pine nuts;
*Garlic mashed "potatoes" (cauliflower posing as potato);
*Organic chocolate-chip cookies

(Basil, greens, and jerusalem artichoke grown on campus)