If you read this blog, I assume you watch or have seen episodes of Top Chef, Iron Chef or Hell’s Kitchen. For those of you that plead ignorance, I am referring to popular television shows that thrive on competitive cooking. In each of these shows contestants are given a set of requirements and constraints, under which they must prepare a meal for x amount of people. The experience of cooking in that environment is both daunting and ridiculous because the scenarios are so extreme.

Well it turns out that the “healthy eating and meal planning class” is like an episode of Top Chef.

Let me explain the scenario:

The gentleman who hired me to teach the class has a roughly $500 budget, 300 of which pays for my services. The remaining $200 has to cover the cost of ingredients for all of the meals we will cook in the class and the supplies needed to prepare each dinner. Given this incredibly tight budget we are currently seeking donated goods. This week I’ll be cold calling various cooking schools and kitchen stores to seek out used equipment. I also contacted staff at local grocery stores and coops to source gift cards or donated food. The timeline is 2 months.

So clearly the financial issue is important, but I feel good that we can make it work. That said, to make our needs as minimal as possible, I had to write a menu for the class that met our budget. Given the diversity in the classroom and the infinite recipe options, I considered a variety of menu possibilities. In the end though, I realized that sticking to my own meal planning strategies was the best choice.

Each class will last 4 weeks, which means I need 4 meals to share with the families. The recipes have to be basic – simple directions, require minimal cookware, use common ingredients and take no more than 60 minutes to prep and cook. With the financial issue looming overhead, I decided seasonality would be great but overlapping ingredients is best. As such, the recipes I chose for the class fit all of these requirements, and I’m fairly certain the total food cost could be around 100-150$. Now, know that I have never done this before. I expect error in my calculations but overall, I really really hope we can afford to make these recipes.

Here’s what I put together:

• Week 1 – Pasta with shredded vegetables and rosemary. I found this on Mark Bittman’s blog and have used it many times. Everybody loves pasta, and it’s got three vegetables in it with some seasonal flavor. It’s easy to make, it fills you up, and it’s delicious.
• Week 2 – Vegetable stir-fry with white rice. Although I’m not drawing from one particular recipe, I’ll write one up for the class that will serve as an “intro to stir-fry.” Again, lots of vegetables but this time over rice. I’ll also introduce families to the various condiment options for cooking Asian food at home. Specifically, sriracha, fish and soy sauce.
• Week 3 – Mushroom barley soup. Here we’ve got a simple soup that easily takes less than an hour to make. Whether it’s cold, dark or wet outside, everybody’s got to want some soup!
• Week 4 – Pizza margherita (cheese pizza) and a side salad. The last class will celebrate with some homemade pizza. I think we’ll provide some vegetarian options for the pizza, but I think that unlike the other meals, pizza is somewhat holy to the individual. Most folks I know only like certain things on their pizza. Thus, I went with the plain cheese pizza. The pizza will be served with a greed salad and shredded carrot.

So that’s the plan. I also have the ingredient list to go along, but that’s not so interesting to post here. The next piece to plan is the content curriculum. This is the good stuff. I have a number of ideas, all of which I will share on the blog over the next 2 months. For now, time to ask for donations.

Related posts:

1. The Food Curriculum Project (part IV) “Lesson Plan 2″
2. The Food Curriculum Project (part VI) “Lesson Plan 4″
3. A simple menu (weekly menu 2)
4. Asian Madness (weekly menu 9)
5. Session 1 Complete!

Tags: cooking, food literacy, Recipes, weekly menu