Week 4! A Rainbow of Colors!

Yesterday I was able to catch the children selling crops at their farmer's market. I stood there in amazement of their beautiful, colorful array of tomatoes, peppers, and squash. Naturally this made me eager to get into the kitchen and cook. The kids were all ready, aprons on, cutting boards out and all washed up! We went over the crops we would be cooking with and then explained what everyone would be doing for our recipes. Today we worked on a mildly flavored Ginger-Curry Stew of chick peas, an assortment of beautiful tomatoes and okra. For a dessert homemade Shiro plum jam over cream cheese covered crackers.

Naturally everyone began cutting cherry tomatoes, slicing whole tomatoes, peppers, rinsing chick peas, and cutting plums. We allowed the stew to come together while we prepared our jam. Then the children plated dessert and I gave a final drizzle of honey over the top. The results? Well, the Curry Stew was met with mixed reviews. Some children tasted it and passed on eating, which made the other children who loved it happy as it meant more leftovers for them! Either way I am proud that they trusted me enough to try something new. The jam was a hit on all accounts!









I was told a parent wanted the recipe after hearing what we were making so hear it goes!

Mildly Flavored Ginger-Curry Stew (side dish or vegetarian main dish)
1. Mince onion, red, yellow or orange peppers (we used purple!), garlic, and ginger. Set aside.
2. Saute onion and peppers until translucent. Add garlic, ginger and 1-2 tsp. of curry powder and cook until fragrant.
3. Add 1 or 2 cans of chick peas and some diced tomatoes and water to barely cover (chicken/vegetable stock would be even better). Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes for tomatoes to break down.
4. Next add okra (that has been trimmed) and allow to cook for another 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove cover and continue to simmer until some of the liquid is absorbed.
6. Adjust flavoring, salt & pepper and serve over basmati rice.
Note: If you are not a fan of okra, spinach would be a nice addition.

Basic Plum "Jam"
1. In a saucepan add a couple of chopped plums, a splash of red wine vinegar, a few tablespoons of honey and a pinch of salt. Allow fruit to soften and caramelize for a few minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
2. In a blender or food processor, pulse fruit to get a spreadable mixture, some fruit pieces are nice. Adjust sweetness.
3. Serve with crackers with cream cheese, over ice cream or as you would of any flavored jam.

Enjoy! And see you next week P.S. 11!!