By Taylor Gale

I had the pleasure of teaching my own vegan cooking class at Our Daily Bread in Baltimore City to a group of men residing and working through Christopher’s Place, which is sponsored by Catholic Charities. It is an intensive Employment Academy that provides residence and educational training, as well as emotional, spiritual, and addiction recovery support for formerly homeless men. To learn more you can check out: https://www.catholiccharities-md.org/services/christopher-place-employment-academy/, https://www.shelterlistings.org/details/30808/. Using food as a tool to bring the men together and teach the important life skills on how to be healthy while still being frugal was stellar.

To teach the class I used an Asian Vegetarian Resource Group recipe created by chef Nancy Berkoff, which can be found on our website at: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2005issue4/2005_issue4_chinese_cooking.php

Stir-Fried Noodles

(Serves 4)

• 2 quarts water
• 1 pound (approximately 2 cups) uncooked noodles, such as vermicelli or rice noodles
• Vegetable oil spray
• ½ cup finely shredded green cabbage
• ½ cup fresh bean spouts
• ½ cup minced celery
• ¼ cup minced onions
• ¼ cup canned bamboo shoots, drained and chopped
• ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh button mushrooms
• 1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce
• Vegetable broth, as needed (not more than ½ cup)

To start, I made the noodles ahead of time, using vermicelli noodles since we only had a wok to cook on at Christopher’s Place. Rice vermicelli noodles are a thin form of rice noodles, which is popular within Asian dishes. The noodles are the easiest part of the recipe. To begin, put two quarts of water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Then add the noodles, which only takes about 3-4 minutes before they are soft and ready. Next, cut up the cabbage, celery, and onions into fine pieces. The bamboo shoots give an added crunch, so I like to cut them into smaller pieces but not as small as the other vegetables. For the mushrooms, cut them into thin slices.

This part took a good amount of time, so I began to ask the men questions on what vegan dishes they have had and which ones they really liked. This creates a platform for interaction between teacher and student as well as camaraderie between each student. I also explained that I like this dish because it fills me up while being a quick-and-easy meal. All of the men really seemed to enjoy discussing their likes and dislikes, which made the rest of the class livelier. I highly recommend creating questions for your students ahead of time. Whenever there are any silent moments, that’s your in.

Remember to tell your students, you can substitute any of these ingredients for another vegetable of their liking. If you do not like celery or bamboo shoots you can use carrots instead. As long as you have a crunchy vegetable to give it that nice texture you can substitute these vegetables with another veggie that you are fond of. It is really about getting a varied mix of vegetables in there.  For added protein, put in some extra-firm or already cubed tofu.

Before cooking any type of tofu, make sure to drain and press the water from it so that it holds its shape when used in recipes, otherwise the tofu may fall apart. Tofu is super cheap ranging from a dollar to five dollars, depending on where you buy it and what brand it is. You can buy already cubed and packaged tofu at your local grocery stores. Seitan and tempeh are another great source of protein, which would pair well with this type of dish. The noodles and bean sprouts have protein too!

Next, coat the wok with oil, I used sesame oil to give it an added Asian taste. You can get sesame oil in any Asian aisles in grocery stores! If you do not want sesame oil, you can always use olive oil or spray oil. It is important to remind your students where to buy these items from if the product is somewhat foreign to the students’ regular diet. Then, add in all of the vegetables, stirring incessantly over high heat for about the same time it took the noodles to cook—4 minutes. I asked one of the gentleman to be my sous-chef. His task was to stir all of the vegetables in the wok. This is another way to make the class interactive and more exciting.

Lastly, combine the noodles, soy sauce, and vegetable broth. I added about two tablespoons of soy sauce, but you can always do more or less. If you want less sodium, you can use coconut aminos, which can be found at Walmart, Target, Safeway, or other grocery stores, typically in the organic aisles. You could always just use low-sodium soy sauce or less soy sauce altogether. If the mixture is too dry you can add another tablespoon of vegetable broth or conversely, add corn starch to thicken the sauce. Personally, I like the noodles to be a bit creamier so I put in about ½ a cup of vegetable broth. Afterwards serve immediately! 

Tips for Teaching Your Own Cooking Class:

• Ask the students questions.
• Make sure to talk about substitutions for each ingredient.
• Leave room for the students to ask their own questions before, during, and after the class.
• If you are cooking something that takes a while to make, be sure to prep ahead of time.
• Explain to your students what you like about the recipe and why.
• Leftovers should be available to the students, so they can enjoy another free and healthy meal at a later time. This is just an option, not a necessity.
• Make sure you gage your audience. Try to relate what you are teaching to what their lifestyles may look like.
• I made way too many noodles. Make sure you measure all of your ingredients to match the amount of students you teach to.

Taylor Gale is an intern at The Vegetarian Resource Group. For more information about VRG internships, see https://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

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