Healthy Snacks at OFL

This past Saturday was the fourth Operation Frontline class and the lesson for the day was healthy snacking. One led a good discussion on what constitutes a healthy snack and how to shop for them. She drew a diagram of a typical supermarket and showed how shopping on the periphery of the store can help ensure that you are purchasing the healthiest, most fresh, and often cheapest food in the store.

My recipes for the day were hummus, guacamole, and tofu in a Chinese peanut sauce. I started by sautéing the tofu in the very begging of the class since that took almost 30 or 40 minutes for the tofu to fully cook. This was started before Ona’s discussion and went through the rest of the demo. While the tofu was cooking, I moved on to the hummus and guacamole.

Hummus

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

Mash garbanzo beans with a fork (or blend in blender or food process if available). Add the garlic, cumin, salt and olive oil. Enjoy with pita, tortilla chips, or veggies!

I used a hummus recipe that did not call for tahini, like most traditional recipes, since it is quite expensive and often difficult to find at many grocery stores. We also did not have a food processor since there is no electricity, so we used a potato masher instead. The hummus turned out well and was a big hit with the class. It was eaten with cut up peppers, cucumbers, and tortilla chips. Next was the guacamole:

Guacamole

4 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately.

The guacamole was by far the biggest hit of the morning! People kept coming back up for this dip and I can’t say I blame them. I am huge guac fan, and this one turned out so well!

After the tofu had browned nicely on all sides, I sautéed some pepper, onion, zuchinni, and squash in a little bit of olive oil while putting the peanut sauce together.


Tofu & Veggies in a Spicy Peanut Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound firm tofu, cubed
¼ onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 small zuchinni
1 small squash

Sauce
1/2 cup good peanut butter
1/2 cup hot water
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. sugar
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. cider vinegar (white vinegar would work too)
1 to 2 Tbs minced fresh cilantro
cayenne, to taste
salt, to taste (if peanut butter is unsalted)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute veggies and tofu for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl combine peanut butter, hot water, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, vinegar, cilantro, and cayenne. Pour over vegetables and tofu. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender crisp.

The recipe for the sauce was taken from the Moosewood Cookbook, one of my all-time favorites. I make this recipe once every month or so and use it on anything from veggies, pasta, rice, and even sautéed spinach. So good!

Only one out of the eight participants in the class had ever tried tofu. While there was some hesitation, everyone tried it in the end. I would say about half the people liked it while the other half pushed it to the side while eating the veggies. It took me at least 10 tires before actually learning to enjoy tofu, so I am impressed with the fact that everyone tired and that some even liked it! Even for those that weren’t falling in love with the tofu, they seemed to enjoy the sauce, which is another plus!

Ona surprised me at the end of the class by pulling out homemade muffins with candles on them to celebrate my birthday (the following day, the day of this post…please feel free to send cooking or other baked goods my way. I am also a huge fan of cheesecake. Oreo please. Thanks!) and had the class sing. She also gave me an awesome Capital Area Food Bank apron, which is so cool ☺ Thank you so much Ona. That was amazing of you.

This class had the most talkative participants of all the classes by far! Everyone was engaged, asking questions and making comments throughout the class. I think people really learned a lot this class, plus they tried some new foods! A few participants came up after the class to thank us personally and shake our hands, which was really wonderful. Next week, the final class: fruit smoothies and pancakes!

I also tried to make an apple cider sorbet this week. I didn’t have a recipe to follow and just played it by ear…It tastes awesome (since cider can’t really not taste awesome) but it needs some work to prevent it from turning into a solid block of delicious ice. Next time, though, I will use cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc and make spiced cider sorbet and hard cider sorbet. Yeah, I’m kind of in a cider kick. I think my body is craving autumn now that it is finally realizing I will be skipping autumn while in Arizona!