Bay View Houses Farm Hosts “Iron Chef” Competition

 

For seven weeks, Green City Force (GCF) Urban Farm Corps members—all of whom are NYCHA residents—worked with a professional chef from the Green City Force Farm Food Educator Program to learn the secrets of healthy cooking, so they can teach these skills to NYCHA residents and visitors to NYCHA’s farms. The course ended with an “Iron Chef” demonstration and competition at Bay View Houses Farm during which the Corps Members got a chance to show off their amazing new culinary skills. 

 

Working in three teams and using produce grown at the farm, each group decided on recipes and prepared and cooked their meals in front of a small, but hungry crowd. The judges declared everything—from a summer rainbow salad to stir-fry spring rolls and salsa—was too delicious to choose one winner.

 

The Food Educator Program, a partnership between GCF and the Sylvia Center, a non-profit that teaches young people and families about cooking, healthy eating habits, and nutrition, aims to provide Corps members with knowledge about cooking, healthy eating habits, and nutrition as well as kitchen etiquette and culinary technique, and the skills to offer a successful food demo. 

 

“Now that I’ve won [the competition], I will pursue my passion for cooking healthy food, and convince billions of people how good kale is with a little bit of lime,” says GCF Corps Member Chantel Kemp. 

 

With their training complete, Corps Members will help build more farms, as well as plan events and present educational food demonstrations at NYCHA’s farms, guaranteeing that the real winners of this “Iron Chef” competition are NYCHA residents and community members who will have the chance to learn about making healthy meals for themselves and their families. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mustard greens

Kale

Collard greens

Carrots

Swiss Chard

Tomatoes

 

Vinegar

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

Mustard (any kind)

 

Combine salad ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix all salad dressing ingredients together, dicing the garlic as small as possible (or use a food processor). Add to salad bowl. Mix well.

 

 

Cantaloupe

Water

Honey

 

Add ingredients into a blender. Blend well.

 

 

 

4-6 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 small onion, diced

1 jalapeno (seeded if 

desired), minced

¼ cup of fresh herbs, cilantro if available, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon of citrus juice

Salt

 

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.

 

 

 

Cucumber

Kale

Blueberries

Strawberries

Bananas

Ice

 

Add a handful of each ingredient to the blender, with plenty of ice. Blend until smooth. Add more of any ingredient to your taste.

 

 

Carrots

Onions

Squash

Garlic

Kale

Swiss Chard

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Lime

 

Cut up all the vegetables, excluding the swiss chard. Fry them in a pan with plenty of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and lime. In a leaf of swiss chard, place a spoonful of fried vegetables and roll up. Cut each roll in half. Place a toothpick through each roll. Repeat until all the vegetables are rolled up!