Sunday, March 6, 2016

Cooking with Community Servings, Plus: Touring Boston Public Market

Most Bostonians already know about Boston Public Market as a great place to shop for produce and prepared foods, but did you know about The KITCHEN that sits in the back of the market? The KITCHEN is a demonstration kitchen space that serves community teaching and learning. The Trustees have partnered with a number of partners to provide classes, workshops, and more. These programs range from baking classes, yoga classes presented by REI, and weekly seasonal tastings with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. I recently attended a preview of a cooking demonstration with Community Servings where we made a sweet potato lentil soup. 
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Community Servings is a great non profit organization that prepares and delivers nutritious meals to critically ill patients (and sometimes the family they have to provide for). Each meal takes into account the patients' illnesses and the dietary restrictions that come with them.

Appropriately, the classes they will be holding at The Kitchen are titled: "Food Heals: Taste Your Way to Better Health with Community Servings". These classes will be on March 19 (11 AM - 1:30 PM) and June 23 (11:30 AM - 1:30 PM). These classes will teach how to prepare nutritious meals and how they can improve health.
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Chef Kevin Conner came up with this sweet potato lentil soup when he had to make a meal for someone who was vegetarian, diabetic and in need of a high protein meal.
Boston Public Market

We got all hands on peeling carrots and sweet potato! OK, we did the easy stuff.
Boston Public Market
Our work was well lubricated by some local wines provided by Massachusetts Wine Shop, one of the vendors at Boston Public Market. 
Boston Public Market
The crowd favorite was the Farmer's Fizz Rosé from Westport River's Winery. This is a fun prosecco style rosé from a top producer of sparkling wines, whose wines have been served at the White House on a number of occasions. Best part is this bottle of sparkling rosé is only $15!
Boston Public Market

Another great wine: Travessia Riesling
Boston Public Market

We also had some shrub made from the fresh fruit vinegars from Mange.
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Before the cooking demo, we actually had a quick tour around the market. As usual, our first stop is Red Apple Farm. You can't miss their donut robot!
Boston Public Market
I mean, fresh apple cider doughnuts? Always.
Boston Public Market
If you think you can't get fresh greens at Boston Public Market in the winter, you're mistaken. With Corner Stalk Farm, which had converted recycled shipping container into a farm - controlling the temperature and environment, they can grow leafy vegetables all year round!
Boston Public Market
We went around and towards Nella Pasta. I actually got a box of this sriracha macaroni from Nella Pasta in my gift bag and I was obsessed it. I just ate it with some of the cheese I got in the gift bag from the Cellars at Jasper Hill. With the amount of flavors packed in this pasta, that was all I needed.
Boston Public Market
I also tried my first Massachusetts sea urchin - from the North Shore - at Red's Best. Red's Best has created a great digital system to track each fish from the fisherman that caught it all the way to retail. It's a great way to maintain accountability and also learn the story behind each fish you buy.
Boston Public Market

Boston Public Market certainly has a number of great vendors. I also love that each vendor booth is labeled by their distance from the market! You really get a feel for how local they are.

The Trustees' program at The KITCHEN is also a great addition to the Boston community, gathering people to learn more about health and wellness through their yoga and cooking classes. The Community Servings classes are free, so be sure to check them out! You can register for the March class using this link. If you can't make it, I would also encourage you to volunteer at their Jamaica Plain location.

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