Garden Cooking for Wellness Night
What to do with all the produce left from our gardens? Recently our Garden and Cooking Crew interns got a chance to turn swiss chard, cilantro, jalapenos, bok choy and more into two delicious soups to share with our neighbors!
Each week during the school year, First Lutheran Church hosts a free Wellness Night and dinner open to all community members. Our shared space on site has made becoming part of Wellness Night easier than ever. This was the first of many potential ways Urban Roots can help with this community gathering.
Ten of our interns gathered after school to prepare the ingredients and make Chicken Noodle Soup with Coconut Lime broth to serve to community members. The interns were able to practice culinary knife skills and create a new recipe using our garden produce. They also had a chance to talk with other event volunteers who were making fresh bread to go with the soup. The interns also made a Swiss Chard Potato Soup that we froze to serve at another Wellness Night. Who doesn’t love garden-fresh vegetables in the winter?
Once the soup was ready and it was time for dinner to be served, the interns helped serve the meal and were able to connect with the local community members in attendance. We brought copies of the recipe to share and had many people interested in making the soup at home!
Community members enjoyed having the interns there and it was a great way for the interns to get more involved. We look forward to helping with another Wellness Night in the near future.
