Chef Ted Anderson's Spring Leek Risotto

We are back with another delicious spring recipe! This one from the kitchen of our Board Chair and Concept Development Chef at Joey Restaurants, Ted Anderson.  Chef Ted uses flavour-packed ingredients to create a rich, earthy risotto that’s a breeze to make. Click here to download a PDF of the recipe, or scroll down to view.

Leeks are a sweet and mild member of the allium family, cousin to onions and garlic. An easy-growing frost tolerant crop, leeks can be harvested summer through winter and make a delightful addition to recipes year-round. Hot tip—leeks are rich in Vitamins B6 and K, as well as iron, manganese, dietary fibre, and folate. While they are often used in soups, leeks are hearty enough to withstand roasting, baking, frying and sauteing.

In this recipe, Chef Ted creates a flavourful puree from leeks and parsley that is added to a rich risotto near the end of the cooking process. Both the blanching of the greens in the early stages and the late addition of the puree to the risotto help the dish maintain a stunning shade of light green. Serve with seared scallops, or top with a crisp julienne of green apple for a vegetarian version.

Have you made this recipe? Tag us in your social media posts so we can see your creations!

Chef Andrea's Asparagus Pesto

If you are subscribed to our newsletter you will have seen that we are launching a new series of kid-friendly recipes shared by professional chefs. Each quarter we’ll share a delicious recipe created by some of the city’s best chefs with kids’ tastebuds in mind. Sign up for our quarterly What’s Growing On newsletter to be one of the first to try out a new dish. We also encourage you to share your recipe recreations on Instagram and tag us @GrowingChefs so we can celebrate your win!

For our spring newsletter, we reached out to our long-time friend, Chef Andrea Carlson. As MICHELIN star Chef and Owner at Burdock & Co, Harvest Community Foods, and Bar Gobo, Chef Andrea Carlson’s love for the land surfaces in organic, seasonal plates influenced by B.C.’s diverse environments. Her signature style of cooking – delicate, earthy and vibrant – captures the essence of farm-to-table dining and is a tangible reminder of her lasting impact and leadership within the culinary community.

Chef Andrea’s vibrant pesto combines the seasonal spring brightness of asparagus with fragrant lemon and earthy almonds, along with a generous helping of parmesan. Serve it with pasta for a quick and uncomplicated weeknight dinner.

Family Cooking Class: Summer Gazpacho

Join us for our ‘Family Cooking Class: Summer Gazpacho’ with Chef Morgan and learn how to make a cooling, delicious summer soup.

Chef Morgan has planned a fun and exciting “choose your own adventure” style gazpacho recipe and live cooking class for kids and families (grown-up supervision recommended). Join us as we learn how to make a delicious and nutritious cold summer soup that you can easily customize to your family’s personal tastes. Learn about seasonal fruits and vegetables and find out what the difference is between a baton and a batonnet. There will be plenty of hands-on opportunities to learn and practice kid-friendly kitchen skills during this event.

Family Cooking Class: Summer Gazpacho

In support of Growing Chefs. Where kids’ connections to food take root.
$25 | July 28, 2021 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM PST

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Knives for little hands!

Looking for a beginner-friendly knife? Check out the Kussi Kids Knife from House of Knives. 

"The Kussi Kids Chef Knife was designed for kids with the help of kids and is great for all beginners in the kitchen, no matter their age! Crafted from German quality steel for great edge retention, the blade shape and length are just right. The blade is wide enough to allow for some knuckle clearance—perfect for learning the basic rock and cross chop techniques. Designed with safety in mind, the rubberized handle ensures a non-slip grip, even when wet! The rounded blade tip and safety choil make sure that little fingers don’t slip onto the blade." - House of Knives

Use promo code GROWINGCHEFS when shopping at houseofknives.ca and 10% will be donated to Growing Chefs!

Get your kids and grownups into the kitchen! Can’t wait. Hope to see you there.

Family Cooking Class on March 18th - Let's Meet the Chef!

This Spring Break, we’ve planned super fun, interactive online experiences for elementary school-aged kids between March 15th and March 26th. These activities will provide kids with the opportunity to explore their local food system, meet local food champions, and continue learning about growing and cooking. One of these upcoming events is a virtual cooking class for the whole family with our good friend and long-time Growing Chefs volunteer Chef Linda Olson!

SOUP-RISE COOKING CLASS
(ages 5-13)
THURSDAY, MARCH 18TH
5:00-6:30PM PST

Chef Linda has planned a fun and exciting “choose your own adventure” style recipe and live cooking class for kids and families (adult supervision recommended). Join us as we learn how to make a delicious and nutritious vegetable soup that you can easily customize to your family’s personal tastes. Learn about seasonal vegetables and find out what mirepoix is and how to make one. There will be plenty of hands-on opportunities to learn and practice kid-friendly kitchen skills during this event.

We’re incredibly grateful and excited to have Chef Linda join us for this event and we’d love for you to get to know her as well!

How did you get into cooking? 

I discovered my passion for food and flavours while working at the Stock Market on Granville Island. At the same time, I met my future husband who loved cooking and encouraged me to pursue a career in food.

Why do you think it's important to get kids involved in the kitchen? 

I believe that when kids take an active role in growing and preparing food, they are more likely to try new things and give healthier foods a chance. 

Why you support Growing Chefs? 

I think a lot of people have lost touch with the true value of food and local food systems. I believe that understanding where your food comes from is important for people of all ages, but the earlier you learn it, the better! The growing aspect of Growing Chefs is just as important as the cooking aspect in my opinion.

What's your favourite local food this time of year?

It’s a tough time of year for local food! Lots of squashes and root vegetables that have made it through the winter. I also grow tomatoes in an indoor hydroponic garden  so I’m loving having fresh extremely local tomatoes for dinner!

Chef Linda is the Kitchen Manager at Truffles Fine Foods. Started in 2005 by owner Nin Rai, Truffles Fine Foods honed its excellent reputation by catering for the film industry in the Greater Vancouver area. Based out of South Vancouver, Truffles quickly grew its reputation as being able to meet the most demanding requirements of sets and film starts – from one-day shoots to full-length feature films, with all of the necessary equipment to provide delicious food, snacks, and beverage service. It didn’t take long to notice that the skills, experience, and equipment in the film catering industry could easily transition to providing the same high-quality service to non-film clients. After working in the high-pressure environment of film catering, it was a simple evolution to offer catering for other types of events, big or small.

Participation in this event is $10. If this cost is a barrier to participating for you and your learner(s) please reach out to us at admin@growingchefs.ca. We will make sure that everyone who wants to participate in our online learning events is able to. Please note this ticket price does not include the cost of ingredients, you will be sent a shopping list in advance and be responsible for sourcing your own ingredients.

7 Ways to Reduce Food Waste in the Kitchen

Curious about how you can reduce food waste in your kitchen? Despite the abundance of food production, more and more food is being wasted, and many Canadians do not have access to healthy foods. According to this study by Second Harvest, 1.4 million Canadians struggle to access healthy foods, and 60% of the food industry’s environmental footprint is from food waste. 58% of food is wasted, and 32% of this food could have been rescued. Today we’re here to show you what you can do on an individual part to help reduce your food waste impact.

Talk with your kids about their ideas too!

1. Proper Storage

The first step to consider with food waste is storage. A quick internet search will show you great ways to store the unique items you may have. For a general guideline, check out this awesome resource here. When storing food, remember to organize them as visually appealing as possible (resist shoving food items to the back of the fridge, or out of sight) and get in the habit of bringing older food items to the front of the fridge.

2. Use Every Part
Did you know, some of the most nutrient-dense parts of our produce items include the skin, stems and tops? Try mashed potatoes with the skin, or perhaps a carrot top pesto. Radish and beet tops make great additions to salads or stir fries, and dark leafy green stems can be used in cooking as well. All of these are also incredible for making broths, in addition to garlic, onion and celery scraps. Citrus peels can be dehydrated and used in tea. Get creative by including parts of foods that aren’t normally used, and tweak recipes to include these incredible ingredients. Shopping at the farmers’ market allows you to ask the farmer for any recipes they recommend. Check out this website for some recipe inspiration.

3. Save The Pulp

For those who love to juice and make dairy-free milk, the leftover pulp from these is so easy to use! Juice pulp can be used in soups and even desserts (Farah from our team recently made a vegan, gluten-free carrot cake with carrot pulp). With dairy-free milk, the pulp can be used in baking, smoothies, and even as toppers to meals.

4. Freeze & Preserve

A fun BC summer activity for the entire family is picking berries, and you can freeze them over the winter. If you do find yourself with an excess of food, freezing is a great way to maintain its integrity. Taking it a step further, you can also try fermenting, dehydrating, drying, and canning excess foods.

5. Grow Food from Scraps

Did you know you can grow food from food scraps? Whether it’s from the ends or seeds, there are tons of produce items that can be re-grown. Check out this video from the UBC Botanical Garden on different food items you can grow from scraps. 

This is an especially enthralling activity to do with the kids your house or classroom!

6. Skincare 

Many conventional skincare products contain harsh ingredients and chemicals that can be quite harmful to our health. Not to mention they can be quite costly as well! Why not try making some products at home? Coffee grounds alone, or mixed with sugar and oil makes a great body scrub. Excess cucumbers or cooled, used tea bags can be applied to your eyes to reduce puffiness. Banana peels and avocados can be applied topically and make great face and hair masks.

7. Compost

Where allowed, composting is a great option for reducing food waste. Compost is highly beneficial for plant health, and food decomposes much faster in the compost than a landfill. Check your housing regulations to see if composting is allowed, and if not, a nearby farm, community garden, or co-op might take your food scraps.

You Can Eat That? Make a Carrot Top Pesto

Working at Growing Chefs! I have the pleasure of working with many chefs, cooks, gardeners and other folks that are passionate about food. It is always inspiring to hear them talk about their favourite vegetables and what they cook with them. I am constantly learning something new about food. That is why I was surprised (but also not surprised) when Selma, our Chef Educator at Growing Chefs!, mentioned in a team meeting that she would be making pesto with carrot tops. “What?” I thought. “You can eat that?” I’ve eaten a lot of carrots in my life so this seemed like a strange thing for me not to know. I happily bought some carrots (with tops) and along with my kid and some help from google made a carrot top pesto. Turns out carrot greens are mildly sweet, easy to work with and totally tasty. During my google research, I learned that you can make a pesto out many types of greens (arugula, parsley, basil etc…) and that pesto recipes are really very flexible (you only need a few key ingredients to make it work and you can easily substitute with what you have). Best of all it is a great way to use greens that are a bit wilted and might otherwise go in the compost. 

We have included a video tutorial of how to make carrot top pesto below as well as the recipe that we adapted below (we have nut allergies in our house so we opted to make our pesto with pumpkin seeds instead of nuts). We have also included a Make Your Own Pesto Worksheet that will help you design your own pesto. I hope you enjoy it and are inspired to make pesto of your own this summer. 

The below recipe is highly adaptable based on your preferences and the ingredients you have available to you. Download our Make Your Own Pesto Worksheet and explore more ways you can adapt this recipe and make it your own.

Carrot Top Pesto Recipe:

Tools:

• a zipper bag (see below for directions using a food processor/bender)

• measuring cups

• measuring spoons

• knife or scissors

Yield: 1 cup of pesto (enough for about 4 portions of pasta)
Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups cleaned carrot tops
½ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt 
¼ teaspoon pepper


Instructions:

1. Clean your carrot tops and cut (with knife or scissors) into very small pieces. Compost the stems that are looking brown.  

2. Place all ingredients in your zipper bag.

3. Squeeze out the air and seal it tight.

4. Crush your pesto (from the outside of the bag) by using a mug, rolling pin or anything else suitable.

5. Use a spoon to taste your pesto 

6. Adjust the flavours to your liking

Enjoy as a pasta sauce on sandwiches, on salad, meats, fish or tofu.

*If you want to use a food processor or blender, simply place all the ingredients in the bowl of the food processor and blend until smooth. If your pesto is too thick add some extra oil. 

The Coolest Way to Eat Your Greens! Frozen Greensicles

These Greensicles get their vibrant green color from spinach. Including spinach in a popsicle (or smoothie) adds vitamins A and C as well as potassium and magnesium. Making this easy recipe along with kids is fun and will help get them comfortable cooking with and eating greens. For extra fun make up your own name for the greensicles (hulksicles, grasshoppersicles, greenmonstersicles). 

Frozen Greensicles Recipe

Yield: This recipe makes 4 greensicles
Prep time: 5 minutes
Freeze time: 5 hours (or a bit longer depending on your freezer)

Ingredients:
½ cup spinach or other greens
½ cup pineapple (frozen, canned or fresh)
½ cup milk (dairy or dairy free)
½  cup yogurt (dairy or dairy free)
1 banana (frozen or fresh)

Tools:
Blender*
Popsicle molds**

 Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend mixture until it is smooth and creamy and there are no large chunks of spinach left. If your smoothie is too thick add some extra milk, yogurt or water and blend some more. Ask an adult to assist when working with a bender and food processor.

2. Pour mixture into popsicle molds

3. Freeze for 5 hours or until frozen

4. Release popsicles from the molds and enjoy 

Modifications: 
You can add any fruit you have on hand to your greensicle recipe. Some fruits like blueberries will taste great and also change the color of your greensicle. Have fun experimenting with different flavor and color combos.

*If you don’t have a blender you can use a food processor or put all the ingredients in a zipper bag and smush the mixture with your hands (chop the spinach a fine as possible if you are using this method).

**If you don't have popsicle molds you can freeze this mixture in an empty yogurt container and eat it with a spoon like ice cream or “icegreen”.

Cooking Something New in the Kitchen: A Recipe for Learning

If you are like me, you have a few things you regularly cook with your kids. For our family, it is a trusted recipe for double chocolate muffins with banana and zucchini. The recipe is easy, reasonably healthy, and everyone likes it, so we make it often. When I think of cooking with kids I almost always think of things I am familiar with and that also produce a sweet and tasty result (like my chocolate zucchini muffins). 

This year, I have been challenging myself to move away from my comfort zone and try cooking some new things with my kid that aren't so familiar. Things that are new to us both. We have made cranberry sauce, beet hummus, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, and homemade tomato soup to name a few. All things that I have never made before. The results have been predictable; some failures, some success, and plenty of learning. In many cases the cooking process and technique was so much different from the things we usually cook that we couldn’t help but learn (A LOT) along the way. We did research, learned how to use a kitchen scale, tried to understand fermentation and asked friends and family for advice. During this process it occurred to me that the skills required to learn to cook something new (researching, problem solving, resourcefulness) will be pretty useful for my kid as she grows up (probably more useful than the ability to make one recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins). With this in mind over the summer we are planning to continue to cook some new things...and probably some more chocolate zucchini muffins (because they are really very tasty). Next up is fresh pasta…wish us luck!

Want to Cook Something New Together? Here are some tips: 

Decide what you will make together:

• Look in magazines or online for inspiration 

• Pick an item from your heritage and call a family member to ask for the recipe

• Think of what you might order-in and find a similar recipe that you can make at home. 

Research, explore, and prepare together:

• Watch some videos together (we watched someone make sourdough on Youtube about 6 times before we felt ready to try it)

• Ask friends and family for tips (you probably know someone that knows how to cook what you are cooking)

• Explore any concepts that are new to you both, this might be the origin of the dish, cooking techniques or terms

Take some notes:

• Write out the recipe to make sure you all understand the steps

• Take some notes for next time you make the recipe (ie. turn down oven temperature, too dry,  yummy)

Anticipate some bumps:

• It might come out perfect the first time….and it might not. Be prepared to fail(ish) and try again if you like

Have fun cooking something new! 

Getting Back to our Roots with Food Traditions: Part 4

We hope you enjoy this food tradition from the home of Amanda, our Program Manager.

Every year for the past 5 years, during the first week of January, my partner and I have hosted a large Ukrainian Christmas Dinner for as many of our friends as we are physically able to fit in our little home. It has become quite the event, not just for us but for those of our guests who look forward to it and come each year. We spend two days preparing everything using the knowledge and skills my Mom and my Grandma taught me and from my exploring of a cookbook I have inherited from my Grandma with traditional Ukranian recipes, in which she has of course, added her own notes and corrections in the margins. There is only one rule for guests that are attending this feast, no one is allowed to bring anything but their appetites- it is a full meal prepared and cooked by us for them and there is no shortage of food or drink to go around. 

The menu keeps expanding as I explore more traditional Ukrainian foods and recipes but every year the meal always includes:

Kutia - a sweet wheat dish that is central to a traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve dinner

Borsch - a bright red beet soup 

Varenyky (pierogies) - a Ukrainian dumpling filled with either potato, cottage cheese, plum, sauerkraut, poppy seeds, berries, or raisins (we typically make a cheese, caramelized onion and potato filling)

Holubtsi (cabbage rolls) - Boiled cabbage leaves filled with rice or beans, mushrooms, and onions. My family usually added ground beef or pork when I was growing up but traditionally these were vegetarian at least for Christmas Eve dinner when no meat was to be eaten.

Nalysnyky - a sweet crepe filled with cottage cheese and dill ( and one of my favourite dishes!)

Kolach - a beautiful braided sweet bread with a crispy crust

Pickled vegetables

Sauerkraut

This is a new tradition that we have started and made as our own. It’s been a way for me to explore more of my Ukrainian heritage through food and hosting the meal really comes from the tradition I grew up with of feeding others and, of course, a love and appreciation of handmade, from-scratch Ukrainian food. Growing up, pierogies and cabbage rolls were always an inclusion at every holiday dinner. Christmas. Easter. Thanksgiving. It didn’t matter if there was a turkey or a ham (or both), it didn't matter how many sides were a part of the meal, there were always pierogies and cabbage rolls somewhere on the table and it was usually one of the first dishes of the meal that was eaten.  

There is something very special about feeding others and it was always something my family was always happy to do. My Grandma always had a fresh made pot of borsch for me whenever I visited. It was about a six hour drive to where she lived and no matter what time I got in at, there was always food that she had made just for me waiting. As soon as I got in the door I could smell the sweet beet aroma from the pot on the stove and after hugs and general greetings she would usher me to the table (usually commenting I was too skinny and needed to eat more) and put a full steaming hot bowl of her borsch down in front of me. This feeding others and hosting friends was a tradition in my home growing up as well. My sister and I were always able to invite friends to join for dinners, especially during holidays when I was in university and many of my friends were far from their own families. They were always invited and welcome at our table.   

Hosting a gathering of our friends and providing them with a hearty meal is how I have chosen to carry on these traditions and making it entirely out of those Ukrainian dishes I grew up with is my own way of exploring and staying connected to my family’s heritage. It isn’t necessarily difficult food to make, but it is time and labour-intensive with many steps involved, and the making of pierogies and cabbage rolls in particular is always a collaborative effort. I still like to help my mom fill and roll the cabbage leaves whenever I am home and she is making them. 

For me, food is meant to be shared with others, including the experience of making it. This is a tradition my partner and I carry on as we set aside a weekend to spend together preparing these dishes to host our annual dinner, stock our freezer, or prepare the dishes to deliver to friends. Even after a few years of making them, we continue to refine our pierogi pinching and cabbage rolling skills, I still do not know how my Grandma got her cabbage rolls so neatly and tightly wrapped. We like to play around a little with the filling recipes, but I definitely stick pretty close to the recipes from my Grandma, as being able to make these foods helps me continue to feel connected to her since her passing.

Ten “School Skills” Kids Can Learn at Home While Cooking

10 “School Skills” Kids Can Learn at Home While Cooking

 “Mom, I’m doubling this recipe” my almost 8 year old kid says as she mixes pancake mix with water, oil and eggs. “Great, go for it!” I say nonchalantly. Inside my head I’m doing a little happy dance. She read the directions on the box (language), gathered the items that she needed (following directions), measured ingredients (math) and doubled the recipe (more math). All of this is happening with a big smile on her face - she doesn’t know it, but she is learning. 

As we enter the eighth week of at-home learning in BC, we are using some of our time to learn in the kitchen. We don’t have a lesson plan, but we are taking the time to talk more about concepts when they come up (what does a 1/3 of a cup really mean? How does baking soda work?) and exploring some food questions we don’t normally take the time to consider (where does the name ‘caesar salad’ come from?). We are eagerly anticipating the return of school (as early as next week for some schools), but for now we are busy doing some hands-on learning at home and producing some tasty results.

Cooking can teach children (and adults too!) so many great skills. Here are a few examples:

LANGUAGE

• Reading, writing, and verbal communication through recipes.

• Increasing vocabulary and introducing children to other languages (sauté is French, bagel is Yiddish, etc.).

GEOGRAPHY AND CULTURE

• Exploring where different types of foods are from and the diets of different cultures.

• Mapping the food miles of a meal, and the path food must travel to our plate.

AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY

• Learning about how and where different foods grow.

• Discussing food miles.

• Understanding how to reduce waste (both packaging and food waste).

MATH

• Following a recipe includes counting, fractions, and measuring.

• Many kitchen skills relate to shapes and spatial reasoning (cutting, plating).

• Opportunities to introduce budgeting.

SCIENCE

• Learning about parts of the plant and parts of an animal (cuts of meat).

• Making observations and exploring food using our five senses.

• Opportunities for experimenting and making predictions.

• Chemistry: physical and chemical reactions in the kitchen (bread rising, bread to toast, emulsification, etc.). 

HISTORY

• Learning what people ate in the past and why.

• Opportunities to explore different food preparation methods and tools, and how this has impacted our diet.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

• Understanding nutrition, food safety, and cleanliness.

CREATIVITY

• Exploring new foods.

• Creating recipes.

• Using food as art (plating). 

SOCIAL SKILLS

• Learning responsibility, cooperation, sharing, self-esteem, and patience.

AND, CONFIDENCE!