You can cook anywhere!

Written by Brainfood Instructor Ibti Vincent

Just looking at three tote bins full of kitchen equipment sitting quietly on a table at Johnson Middle School, you'd likely have no idea what fun and deliciousness can be whipped up in a classroom. Unless you happen to be there on Thursdays between 3:30 and 5pm, that is....

We just wrapped up week 4 of our healthy cooking pilot program at Johnson  Middle School, and boy has it been an adventure! From Healthy Snacks to Breakfast Day, and from a Veggie Taco Bar to Healthier Classics, we've been having a blast (and eating well) with DC Scores' poet-athletes. One added bonus about this program? Over the past month, we've learned just how much cooking can be done without all the standard fixtures of a full kitchen.

No sinks? No problem! We put together a 3-stage wash bin system to mimic the wash, rinse, and sanitize areas in a traditional Brainfood kitchen -- see, those totes, once emptied of equipment, double as sinks!

We've also done pretty well without a regular stove or oven: we've made scrambled eggs, pasta, taco fillings (and more!) on portable burners -- and who could forget the wildly popular kale chips and homemade croutons in the toaster oven? The less traditional setting also prompted us to use special kitchen appliances like the blender (for tofu berry smoothies!) and the air popper (for our popcorn granola trail mix!) along the way.

Not only have we gone without sinks and ovens in this program, we've also gone (mostly) meatless! Without a complete kitchen set-up, working with meat wasn't feasible --  and it's been great to explore so many tasty vegetarian options. It's been a fruit and veggie laden four weeks, with sweet potato and Swiss chard taco fillings, kale Caesar salad,  yogurt-fruit parfaits, and lots more (okay, maybe I did bring in a whole roast chicken for us to chop up for week four's Slimmed Down Chicken Broccoli Alfredo.)

We've got one more week of cooking at Johnson before we head to a Brainfood kitchen for our final session together. Oh, the luxury of real sinks and ovens!