Eating Healthy: A Winter’s Treat (Recap)

Well, once again, Bethanne and Kenny Kashkett came down and put on a wonderful and artful cooking demonstration filled with facts on nutrition, personal stories, and, of courts, tasty and savory dishes. This was our third Eating Healthy seminar and each one is a little different.

After starting out with two dynamic smoothies: Kenny’s sweet purple one (banana, berries, greens & more) & Bethanne’s sour green one (kale, Granny Smith Apples, lemon and water), we got right into making some milk – thanks to our brave young lad, Jacob, shown here. After he washed his hands, Bethanne asked him if he had ever milked a cow, he replied “No.” Then Bethanne said, “Well you are going to learn how to milk an almond.” And that is exactly what he did.

Thereafter it was on to the next round of preparation. For this, everyone came up to roll their own spring rolls:

First Bethanne showed up how it is done. We took rice paper, soaked it for a bit to make it soft, and then placed our favorite items on top: A choice of shredded carrots &  cucumbers, other veggies, cellophane noodles, & more.

And then – then it got rolled into a – well a roll, with the ends folded in and it came out very beautifully. You might think that we then ate it right away. And we did. But not before applying our favorite sauce. One was a teriyaki  dressing and the other was a sweet and sour duck sauce dressing.

Here is our spring roll train in full view. All in all we had 23 people for the program and all got the opportunity to make a spring roll.

Thereafter it was on to a wonderful miso soup done just right. The perfect amount of miso with fresh organic vegetables that were slightly steamed to perfection to still have that crunch. Side by side Bethanne told us all about the various types of fermented soy products, of which miso is one.

The hummus that Bethanne put together was incredibly good. So good that everyone was eating it all alone – and when taken with Bethanne & Kenny’s homemade chips, the combination was soo good!!

Other great dishes prepared on site were a rainbow salad (green cabbage, purple cabbage, carrots, yellow squash, red pepper, kale, parsley & more) with an other worldly salad dressing. Plus we had a Maple-glazed root vegetable casserole. While most of the dishes we ate were raw (though you would never have guessed it) this one was a baked dish (sweet potatoes, carrots, and other wonderful root veggies) laid over a brown rice that was cooked in jasmine tea. Very yummy indeed.

Our program was not just about eating. Bethanne and Kenny bring so much more to the table: facts, tales, and ideas about how, where, when and what to buy when creating your new menu. Bethanne now takes about 85% raw food and 15% cooked, or warmed to be precise. And it was very interesting to learn about all the great things that can be made raw. And yes, this program was 100% vegan as well.

And then we came to dessert, or shall I say desserts: Banana nut brittle, no-bake soft pecan cookies, raw apple crisp, black bean brownies and other tasties made using a dehydrator, soaked dates and more.

All in all it was a scrumptious, educational, and very social affair. Thanks so much to all who attended and of course thanks for Bethanne and Kenny for coming down and treating us to another great gathering!!

Here are a few things of what people had to say about it. My favorite aspect was:

– “Learning that there are so many possibilities with raw food – I’d always thought it meant mostly salads!”

– “How informative and interesting the presentation was. (Tasty too!)”

– “The food of course. Also Bethanne’s beautiful energy 🙂

– “The miso soup, the hummus & chips, brownies, cookies, veggies – ALL of it!”

– “Recipe booklet with these foods liked – smoothies, miso soup, the sweets”

– “Black bean brownies + so much nutritional info + references – pass arounds + books.”

Those who attended, please feel share more of your comments….

Thanks again everyone for a wonderful, wonderful occasion!!! See you next time, June 2011!!