The Lunch Lady

by Cindy Lazarenko

It’s a new calendar year, yet we are already halfway through the school year.

I handed over the lunch cook position at Highlands Junior High to the very capable Teresa Bradley, who worked with me in the kitchen at Culina Highlands. I still cover lunch shifts at the school when I can and try to keep Teresa stocked up with produce and spices and anything else I can get my hands on to help make her job easier. It’s much more challenging this year because the number of students coming down for lunch each day has nearly doubled. What helps is the sweetest bunch of junior high students who enthusiastically show up each day to help serve. They manage the high volume by setting themselves up as an assembly line and, with firm, clear voices, encourage the students to ‘take your lunch and move on so we can serve everyone’ which can, depending on the day, come across as cheeky, sarcastic or humorous. They’re serving their peers and instinctively they seem to know how to get the job done right from the start.

I don’t get to see the kids each day as I did last year, so in October I started a casual, go-with-the-flow kind of after school cooking club. We meet on Tuesdays in the Home Ec lab. A handful of kids show up (usually the same darling group of kids that help at lunch). We adopt leftover produce or ingredients that need to be used up and we just…cook. The first day, with donated frozen berries bulging from the freezers we baked blueberry muffins and made some rather bland-tasting smoothies. The following week, using a generous anonymous donation of beef (ok, it was from my mom), we made big pots of chili and golden sweet cornbread. Another day we had heaps of cauliflower and we prepared cauliflower rice. I was skeptical as to whether they would like it but they were openminded, and mostly curious to see how in the heck I was going to make rice out of cauliflower; they played along and in the end we all agreed it was pretty tasty. It doesn’t seem to matter what the end result is of our culinary efforts; what matters is we are working together, talking, learning and sharing. That seems to be reason enough to keep them coming back.

Well, the word spread quickly in our Highlands neighbourhood and one thing led to another. The next thing I knew I was hosting an afterschool cooking class for several kids ranging from eight to 12 years old from Virginia Park Elementary School, the school my daughters attend. Not surprising to me, I also had two students from Highlands Junior High volunteer as my assistants. At the start of the class we doublewrapped large white aprons around their tiny bodies, guided them to the handwashing station and informed them of the menu, receiving only one groan with the mention of salad. First up: romaine salad with Gala apples, candied pecans, white cheddar and a creamy, sweet, lemony dressing. Everybody chopped lettuce, grated cheese and measured and whisked the ingredients together for the dressing. They watched me make the candied pecans and sampled so many we had to make another batch. Fine by me. Now that my little garde manger cooks have mastered the art of preparing cold food we were ready to move on to the entrée, handmade gnocchi — light and fluffy little pillows of potato dumplings.

They measured cups of flour, cracked eggs and scooped out the flesh of baked potatoes. The next thing we knew we had a soft, pliable dough which proved to be irresistibly enjoyable to work with because, unlike Play-Doh, they knew they would eventually be allowed to eat it. I quickly demonstrated how to roll, slice and flick, and before long, each student had a pan of their own handmade dumplings ready for the plunge. They finished the gnocchi with butter, a bit of tomato sauce and a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano, then gathered at the table and indulged.

These are just a few examples of the countless ways we can cultivate the love of good food with our children and have a deliciously good time doing it. A fun, positive experience in the kitchen will almost guarantee even the pickiest of eaters will sample new foods. My non salad-loving student commented “it’s pretty good. It’s sweet. I like it.”

I love how proud these kids are to pack up the leftovers to take home to their families. If only they were as excited about doing the clean up afterwards.

Cindy Lazarenko is the chef/owner of OnOurTable, a volunteer at Highlands Junior High in the school lunch program, and a co-worker with her brother at Culina Catering.

Cauliflower Fried Rice
Recipe adapted from thekitchn.com

1 head cauliflower
6-8 pieces thick-sliced bacon, optional
2 large eggs
1 T minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
½ cup frozen peas
4 green onions, thinly sliced
¼ cup cashews or almonds
2 T soy sauce

Cut the cauliflower into florets, discarding the tough inner core. Working in batches, pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until it breaks down into rice-sized pieces. You should have 5 to 6 cups of cauliflower rice.

Cook the bacon in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until crispy. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to drain. Once cooled, roughly chop into pieces. Drain off all but a teaspoon of bacon grease, reserving the grease. If not using bacon, place 1 teaspoon canola oil in the pan.

Place the pan back over medium-high heat. Whisk the eggs and pour them into the skillet. Quickly scramble the eggs. Transfer the eggs to a cutting board and roughly chop into pieces.

ipe the skillet clean and warm 1 tablespoon of bacon grease or vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and garlic, and sauteÅL until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the carrots and sauteÅL until crisp-tender, 2 minutes. Stir the corn, peas and the cauliflower rice into the pan, mixing the ingredients thoroughly.

Lower the heat to medium, cover the pan and cook until the cauliflower is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Uncover and stir in the bacon, eggs, green onions, nuts and the soy sauce. Taste and add more soy sauce to taste. Serve immediately.