Si, Se Puede students host cooking show and competition
The Si, Se Puede! Learning Center students culminated a
month-long service learning project April 1 with a cooking
competition of healthy recipes. And I was lucky enough to have a
judge’s eye view as one of four community members selected to try
each of the meals.
I wasn’t sure what to expect since I knew some of the
limitations the teams would face. First, the Si, Se Puede! Learning
Center isn’t really equipped to cook five meals simultaneously, as
it’s an after-school program in a community room at the Villa Luna
Apartments. Second, I knew that the majority of the
”
cooks
”
would be elementary school students. And third, though I knew
the main ingredients in the recipes would be vegetables, I can be a
picky eater so I was a little hesitant to go in without knowing
what would be served up.
Si, Se Puede students host cooking show and competition
The Si, Se Puede! Learning Center students culminated a month-long service learning project April 1 with a cooking competition of healthy recipes. And I was lucky enough to have a judge’s eye view as one of four community members selected to try each of the meals.
I wasn’t sure what to expect since I knew some of the limitations the teams would face. First, the Si, Se Puede! Learning Center isn’t really equipped to cook five meals simultaneously, as it’s an after-school program in a community room at the Villa Luna Apartments. Second, I knew that the majority of the “cooks” would be elementary school students. And third, though I knew the main ingredients in the recipes would be vegetables, I can be a picky eater so I was a little hesitant to go in without knowing what would be served up.
The cooking competition and show were all part of the students’ service-learning project. The students pick a project each March, as a way to commemorate the work of Cesar E. Chavez, one of the founders of the United Farm Workers movement. Past projects have included food and clothing drives to donate to charities and creating a community garden to grow healthy foods.
Service learning
“We sit down the first week and give the opportunity to do anything they want,” said Charles Miller, the resident service coordinator, of deciding on the project. “They wanted to do something on healthy living and eating.”
The kids came up with the idea of a cooking show, and Miller coordinated with the Community Media Access Partnership to train some of the high school volunteers from the Students Helping Youths Nurture Education program to film the event. The high school participants trained on using the camera and sound equipment needed to film the event. The elementary students even had a hand in choosing the judges, as well as the guest chefs who helped out with the recipe preparation.
The other judges included Bonnie Swank, of Swank Farms, who also donated the fresh produce used for the cooking competition; Enrique Luna, a Gavilan College professor; and Hollister Youth Alliance board member; and Maria Salazar, the property manager of the Villa Luna Apartments.
For the cooking competition, the kids were divided up into five groups – each group had an adult volunteer and a chef or member of the community. The guest chefs included: Max Espinosa – chef for Hazel Hawkins Hospital and SÃ, Se Puede! Learning Center parent, Gaby Martinez – chef for Ella’s Cafe, chef Frank – chef for Cozy Cup Cafe, Victor Gomez – Hollister city council member and owner of Papa Murphy’s Pizza, Mindy Sotelo – San Benito County Farm Bureau manager and the coordinator of the Harvest of the Month Program.
In preparation of the big day, the students collected 39 healthy recipes that they put together into a cookbook, available for $12.
Putting together a menu
“They are all kid friendly,” Miller said, adding that they also tried to make the recipes affordable. “You think of eating and cooking – it’s nostalgic. A lot brought in a recipe from mom and dad. We had to tweak some to make them a little healthier.”
In addition to preparing for their cooking show, the students and staff members at the learning center made a pledge not to eat candy, chips or drink soda for a month. To help out with the challenge, the staff members worked hard to offer healthy snacks during the afternoon programs. The kids even tried out a couple of the recipes from the cookbook, including one for salsa.
Leading up to the event, the kids also researched topics for their presentations on childhood obesity, diabetes and ways to stay healthy in Hollister.
“They did a lot of research and they were struck by not only youth, but that Latino youth have a high percentage of obesity and diabetes,” Miller said. “The kids did their own research and were really struck by the numbers.”
On the day of the event, after 15 minutes of frantic slicing and dicing, the first dish presented to the judges was a fresh, spicy salsa. The salsa included vine-ripened tomatoes, fresh cilantro, onions and radishes. The best part of the salsa was the chunky texture and the smell of it when it was placed before the judges.
The next dish was Salad-on-the-go, which came in a large McDonald’s Cafe cup. The cup was filled with freshly torn lettuce, walnuts, feta cheese, apples and cucumbers.
A hearty taste
The only problem with the cooking competition was that the servings were so big, I was full halfway through the show. When the healthy sandwich platter was delivered to me, I couldn’t finish off all three of the sandwich quarters served to me so instead I took a couple bites of each. The sandwiches, which included ham served on three types of bread with different cheeses and vegetables, included an ingredient I don’t like. I never eat bean sprouts, but in an effort to be a good role model for the kids, I ate them anyway.
The last two dishes were especially easy for the kids to make. The breakfast parfaits included yogurt, granola, bananas and berries. The vegetable and fruit skewers, the last dish we received at the judges’ table, included small slices of fruit and vegetables on wooden skewers. They were served with dips of yogurt, honey and salad dressing. It seemed like a perfect way to get kids to eat a healthy treat.
My fellow judges and I soon had a tough decision to make. We had numbers from one to five – with five being the best. And we had to judge each dish after it was delivered. The judges came to a consensus pretty early on that the teams all deserved a five for their hard work and for offering up a tasty way to eat healthy foods. The kids all cheered when it was announced that they were all winners and each family received a copy of the cookbook to take home. The cookbooks were printed at DLG printing, which gave the Si, Se Puede! Learning Center a break on the printing cost.
The students still had two weeks to go on their challenge not to eat chips, candy or soda, and the cookbook could go a long way to helping them meet that goal.
The cooking show will air on CMAP at a date to be announced. The Si, Se Puede Cookbook is available for purchase, a large version or a small version with a color cover for $12 each, by calling 637-9097or e-mailing
nf************@gm***.com
. Below are two recipes from the book and the competition.
Recipes:
Fresh, spicy salsa
Get ready to prepare some spicy salsa with ingredients fresh from the fields! You will work together as a team to prepare this delicious salsa to be served with multigrain tortilla chips.
1.) Chop up the onions, tomatoes, radishes and cilantro into small pieces and put together in a medium-sized bowl.
Tip: Radishes will make the salsa a bit spicier…so be careful how much you add!
2.) Add 1 tbsp. of lime juice and 1 tbsp. of lemon juice.
3.) Mix together all ingredients thoroughly and serve with whole grain chips. Enjoy!
Breakfast parfaits
You’ve chosen a morning delight! A wonderful light and healthy recipe to start the day.
1.) Chop up the banana, strawberries
2.) Place about one inch of yogurt in each of the cups
3.) Place a thin layer of granola on top of the yogurt
4.) Add another thin layer of yogurt
5.) Continue to layer the granola, fruit and yogurt until the cup is full. Enjoy!
