{"id":13470,"date":"2019-04-24T10:00:28","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T14:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=13470"},"modified":"2019-04-15T12:35:22","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T16:35:22","slug":"teaching-a-vegan-cooking-class-at-christophers-place-in-baltimore-md","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2019\/04\/24\/teaching-a-vegan-cooking-class-at-christophers-place-in-baltimore-md\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching a Vegan Cooking Class at Christopher\u2019s Place in Baltimore, MD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/20190402_141010-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13471\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By Taylor\nGale <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had the\npleasure of teaching my own vegan cooking class at Our Daily Bread in Baltimore\nCity to a group of men residing and working through Christopher\u2019s Place, which\nis sponsored by Catholic Charities. It is an intensive Employment Academy that\nprovides residence and educational training, as well as emotional, spiritual,\nand addiction recovery support for formerly homeless men. To learn more you can\ncheck out: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholiccharities-md.org\/services\/christopher-place-employment-academy\/\">https:\/\/www.catholiccharities-md.org\/services\/christopher-place-employment-academy\/<\/a>,\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shelterlistings.org\/details\/30808\/\">https:\/\/www.shelterlistings.org\/details\/30808\/<\/a>.\nUsing food as a tool to bring the men together and teach the important life\nskills on how to be healthy while still being frugal was stellar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To teach\nthe class I used an Asian Vegetarian Resource Group recipe created by chef\nNancy Berkoff, which can be found on our website at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/journal\/vj2005issue4\/2005_issue4_chinese_cooking.php\">https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/journal\/vj2005issue4\/2005_issue4_chinese_cooking.php<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stir-Fried\nNoodles<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Serves 4)\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>2 quarts water<\/li><li>1 pound (approximately 2 cups) uncooked noodles, such as vermicelli or rice noodles<\/li><li>Vegetable oil spray<\/li><li>\u00bd cup finely shredded green cabbage<\/li><li>\u00bd cup fresh bean spouts<\/li><li>\u00bd cup minced celery<\/li><li>\u00bc cup minced onions<\/li><li>\u00bc cup canned bamboo shoots, drained and chopped<\/li><li>\u00bc cup thinly sliced fresh button mushrooms<\/li><li>1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce<\/li><li>Vegetable broth, as needed (not more than \u00bd cup)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<table class=\"wp-block-table\"><tbody><tr><td>\n  &nbsp;\n  Total calories per serving: 430\n  <\/td><td>\n  &nbsp;\n  Fat: 1 gram\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  Carbohydrates: 98 grams\n  <\/td><td>\n  Protein: 5 grams\n  <\/td><\/tr><tr><td>\n  Sodium: 488 milligrams\n  <\/td><td>\n  Fiber: 3 grams\n  <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n<p>To start,\nI made the noodles ahead of time, using vermicelli noodles since we only had a\nwok to cook on at Christopher\u2019s Place. Rice vermicelli noodles are a thin form\nof rice noodles, which is popular within Asian dishes. The noodles are the\neasiest part of the recipe. To begin, put two quarts of water in a large pot\nand bring to a boil. Then add the noodles, which only takes about 3-4 minutes\nbefore they are soft and ready. Next, cut up the cabbage, celery, and onions\ninto fine pieces. The bamboo shoots give an added crunch, so I like to cut them\ninto smaller pieces but not as small as the other vegetables. For the\nmushrooms, cut them into thin slices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This part\ntook a good amount of time, so I began to ask the men questions on what vegan\ndishes they have had and which ones they really liked. This creates a platform\nfor interaction between teacher and student as well as camaraderie between each\nstudent. I also explained that I like this dish because it fills me up while\nbeing a quick-and-easy meal. All of the men really seemed to enjoy discussing\ntheir likes and dislikes, which made the rest of the class livelier. I highly\nrecommend creating questions for your students ahead of time. Whenever there\nare any silent moments, that\u2019s your in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember\nto tell your students, you can substitute any of these ingredients for another\nvegetable of their liking. If you do not like celery or bamboo shoots you can\nuse carrots instead. As long as you have a crunchy vegetable to give it that\nnice texture you can substitute these vegetables with another veggie that you\nare fond of. It is really about getting a varied mix of vegetables in\nthere.&nbsp; For added protein, put in some\nextra-firm or already cubed tofu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before\ncooking any type of tofu, make sure to drain and press the water from it so\nthat it holds its shape when used in recipes, otherwise the tofu may fall\napart. Tofu is super cheap ranging from a dollar to five dollars, depending on\nwhere you buy it and what brand it is. You can buy already cubed and packaged\ntofu at your local grocery stores. Seitan and tempeh are another great source\nof protein, which would pair well with this type of dish. The noodles and bean\nsprouts have protein too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next, coat\nthe wok with oil, I used sesame oil to give it an added Asian taste. You can\nget sesame oil in any Asian aisles in grocery stores! If you do not want sesame\noil, you can always use olive oil or spray oil. It is important to remind your\nstudents where to buy these items from if the product is somewhat foreign to\nthe students\u2019 regular diet. Then, add in all of the vegetables, stirring\nincessantly over high heat for about the same time it took the noodles to\ncook\u20144 minutes. I asked one of the gentleman to be my sous-chef. His task was\nto stir all of the vegetables in the wok. This is another way to make the class\ninteractive and more exciting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly,\ncombine the noodles, soy sauce, and vegetable broth. I added about two\ntablespoons of soy sauce, but you can always do more or less. If you want less\nsodium, you can use coconut aminos, which can be found at Walmart, Target,\nSafeway, or other grocery stores, typically in the organic aisles. You could\nalways just use low-sodium soy sauce or less soy sauce altogether. If the\nmixture is too dry you can add another tablespoon of vegetable broth or\nconversely, add corn starch to thicken the sauce. Personally, I like the\nnoodles to be a bit creamier so I put in about \u00bd a cup of vegetable broth.\nAfterwards serve immediately!&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tips for\nTeaching Your Own Cooking Class: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Ask\nthe students questions.<\/li><li>Make\nsure to talk about substitutions for each ingredient. <\/li><li>Leave\nroom for the students to ask their own questions before, during, and after the\nclass.<\/li><li>If\nyou are cooking something that takes a while to make, be sure to prep ahead of\ntime. <\/li><li>Explain\nto your students what you like about the recipe and why. <\/li><li>Leftovers\nshould be available to the students, so they can enjoy another free and healthy\nmeal at a later time. This is just an option, not a necessity. <\/li><li>Make\nsure you gage your audience. Try to relate what you are teaching to what their\nlifestyles may look like. <\/li><li>I\nmade way too many noodles. Make sure you measure all of your ingredients to\nmatch the amount of students you teach to. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Taylor\nGale is an intern at The Vegetarian Resource Group. For more information about\nVRG internships, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/student\/index.php\">https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/student\/index.php<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To support\nVRG outreach, donate at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vrg.org\/donate\">www.vrg.org\/donate<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Taylor Gale I had the pleasure of teaching my own vegan cooking class at Our Daily Bread in Baltimore City to a group of men residing and working through Christopher\u2019s Place, which is sponsored by Catholic Charities. It is an intensive Employment Academy that provides residence and educational training, as well as emotional, spiritual, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13472,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13470\/revisions\/13472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}