Learning to Cook Easy Meals

A couple months back, I ran a cooking class as an alternative to a bachelorette party. Two of the students there were friends, Kim and Jane. They joked about being the most attentive students of the class, and they really enjoyed the experience. Therefore, they decided to host their own group cooking class with their friends at Kim’s mom’s house.

The house was beautiful and the kitchen was awesome… perfect for a cooking class, complete with a great island and lots of seating. We co-designed a seasonal menu which showcased healthy, delicious dishes that take no time at all to prepare.

Kim is a busy mom who runs her own health and fitness business. Jane works full time in an office. Both ladies were in desperate need of healthy, tasty recipes that would be easy to prepare.

They also requested learning to cook with tofu and mostly vegetables, and that made me think of developing recipes that were Asian influenced, with a hint of some Italian ingredients. You know me and fusion cuisine!

They were such a fun, laid-back and friendly group. My sous chefs, Amy, Janice, and I had a great time with them. Joe was also there to capture the essence of the night with these photographs.

They all took turns being hands-on, chopping, stirring, sauteing, measuring and mixing. As a team, the group cranked out a total of 4 different original recipes! Holy shmoly!

I tried my best to answer all their questions, and we also got in a few laughs.

Here I am demonstrating to Kim the proper way to develop the brown bits when sauteing the vegetables, and also how to deglaze the pot.

Jane was eager to get in there and chop all the jicama and fennel for the salad. If you haven’t tried using jicama yet, you are truly missing out.

She cranked that out in no time.

Jicama, fennel and green apple salad with red peppers, cabbage and citrus dressing

Tofu and turkey stir-fry with crispy seasonal vegetables.

Dijon dill chicken with tomatoes on a bed of wasabi-mashed edamame.

My sous chefs were the best. They got everything prepped for the class, served the food and helped clean up everything! The class itself was also a joy to work with and all the ladies there were funny and fantastic.

As a bonus, I was happy to hear that Jane recreated the chicken dish later at home and it came out poifect. I LOVE hearing this kind of stuff!