This Saturday, we hosted a uniquely special Healthy Kids class in downtown Los Angeles at the Children’s Bureau, a nonprofit leader in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. Through their services in school readiness, parenting classes, family resource centers, support groups, mental health counseling, foster care and foster-adoption, and more, over 35,000 children and families are helped each year throughout Southern California. It is a bustling community center with a constant flow of families coming in and out for services and we were honored to participate in their remarkable work.
Executive Chef Mayet Cristobal and Manager of Food Education for Children Hannah Schmunk were joined by nine-year-old Jangel Sedano, a 4th grader and young chef passionate about teaching other kids to cook, eat healthy, and move away from junk food. Jangel has posted a series of Facebook videos from his home kitchen on how to cook healthy recipes but this was his first time teaching live in front of a class. And it wasn’t just any class…twenty 5, 6, 7, and 8 year olds arrived full of energy to learn how to make Jangel’s fruity pizzas and Chef Mayet’s vegetable lettuce wraps, and parents, aunts, uncles, and even a grandma stayed to watch.
After a lesson on where food comes from and a taste test of watermelon radishes and figs, kid-chef and food advocate Jangel suited up in his Champions for Change apron and chef hat to lead the students in one of his favorite recipes to make at home. Step by step he taught the kids how to spread Greek yogurt on their pita rounds, chop and decorate their pizza crusts with strawberries, bananas, peaches, and blueberries, and add a sprinkle of granola and a drizzle of honey on top. He moved around the tables praising his students on their good work and encouraging them to get creative by making a design or a face with their toppings. What a natural!
Chef Mayet taught the group how to make vegetable lettuce wraps, beginning with a demonstration on how to make hummus. For most of the kids, this was their first time trying (or even hearing of) hummus and it proved to be a big hit! Next, she led the group in preparing a homemade vinaigrette, instructing the kids to add portioned cups of olive oil and lemon juice and a pinch of salt to their miniature mason jars and shake them vigorously – which of course turned into a shaking party! To prepare their vegetable toppings, the kids ribboned rainbow carrots with kid-safe peelers, diced Persian cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes with kid-safe knives, and added them to a bowl along with small radish rounds to toss in their salad dressing. Finally, it was time to build our wraps and everyone spread their butter lettuce leaves with hummus and topped them with their freshly dressed vegetables, an avocado slice, and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
Class ended with a family picnic in the Children’s Bureau’s outdoor courtyard and one participant exclaimed, “I could eat this meal for 1,000 days in a row and I still wouldn’t be tired of it!” What a wonderful way to end the day!
