In the spirit of National Nutrition Month, we decided to visit the Plant Power cooking class, one of our recent UTown@UBC Community Grant projects, to unleash our inner cooking superhero. We learned how to create delicious and nutrient packed plant-based snacks, treats, and entrees that can really please an entire crowd, all while having so much fun in the kitchen. The workshop was led and organized by Ilan Wright, a UBC dietetics student and Red Seal Chef. The workshops were designed to provide cooking classes to students currently living in first-year residences, but soon to come off meal plans, and having to cook the following year in upper-level residences. See a few glimpses from the workshop below.
Executive Chef, UBC Food Services, David Speight helps workshop attendees sharpen up on their knife skills! After all, chopping veggies is always step number one to cooking up a storm.
Emma McCrudden, UBC Sport Dietician, shared her knowledge on how we can use more vegetables in dishes to make nutrient packed meals!
Team work made dream work when it came to preparing these melt-in-your-mouth brownies. P.S: they had a hidden ingredient to up the nutrition value…black beans!
Looking to please a crowd? Make these Black Bean Burgers baked to perfection. So yummy!
What’s a cooking class without a little taste test? We finished off the workshop with a family style meal as the groups brought together their plant-based dishes for the whole team to enjoy.
We can’t wait for the next cooking class that helps the UBC community expand their nutrition knowledge and cook meals that are easy, nutritious and of course…delicious. Have an idea for a project that will animate campus or create stronger connections across the greater UBC community? Our next UTown@UBC Community Grants cycle opens in the Fall so stay tuned for more details and apply to receive funds that can help make that idea a reality! This workshop won't have been possible without support from: UTown@UBC, UBC Student Housing and Hospitality Services, UBC School of Kinesiology, UBC Athletics and Recreation, AMS Food Bank, UBC Wellbeing Food and Nutrition Working Group and UBC Botanical Garden