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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels March 23, 2004 Healthier cooking at home By Steve Zimmerman Ashland Daily Tidings In response to increasing reports about obesity in America and the renewed interest in eating healthy, the Ashland Food Cooperative began offering cooking classes last fall. Ashland Chef, Bryan Holley, leads a cooking class at the Ashland Food Cooperative Thursday (ABOVE). Holley joined several other chefs in showing how healthy whole foods can be artfully prepared (BELOW) in a series of classes that ran for several weeks. Classes at the co-op are scheduled to begin again in May. Satsuki Doi | The Associated Press The second quarter, which began in January, featured 20 classes for those who can cook and those who cannot. The quarter ended with Bryan Holley's class Thursday titled, "Four Fundamental Techniques for Elegant Entrees." He talked about what he hoped to achieve with his class. "My classes are aimed at trying to empower other people to succeed in their own kitchens," he said. "That is why I am trying to teach these basic techniques. And I am using different proteins. For example, I am having one chicken dish, one salmon dish and then I am making lamb chops and filet mignon." Holley added that all the dishes he demonstrates use ingredients locally produced here in Oregon or regionally produced in Oregon and California. The chicken is produced in California. "I [use], as you might expect, some of the meats you can find at the Co-op and that are among the best in the valley," he explained. "And then I [show] people what they can do with them when they get home. I am a big fan, as a teacher, of showing people that I am just a plain old guy just like you. And if I can teach me, then I can teach you." Annie Hoy, Outreach Coordinator for the co-op, said there was a definite need for the classes. "We realized that there were other culinary programs in the valley, but none of them focused on using exclusively whole foods, so that was the niche we could fill," she said. "Educating people about how to improve their health by cooking with whole foods is something you need to do. "There was nothing that taught you how to use the foods, because there is this misconception that healthy food is not very tasty. So we wanted to dispel that myth that whole foods are bland. In fact, whole foods are much more tasty than processed foods and they are just as convenient. Cooking at home is easy and is very rewarding." Involvement grew as word spread. "It was a medium response for the first quarter and a strong response for the second quarter," Hoy said. She added that they type of classes offered as well as word of mouth helped increase attendance in the second quarter. "One of the most popular classes we offered in the second quarter was a presentation by Stu Stein and Mary Heinz of The Peerless (Restaurant Hotel and Bar). It was called, "The Sustainable Kitchen." "It was a preview of their upcoming cook book" Hoy said. "We are really encouraging people to buy local and eat local. One of the things they emphasize in their restaurant and cook book is partaking of what is around you in your local community." Another course that was well-attended was a class on eating more tofu. Hoy said the class focused on the benefits of soy products with tofu being a very good source of protein and calcium. "It is also very good for women to get a certain amount of soy in their diet," she said. "A lot of people just starting to want to eat those kinds of food wanted a class that showed them what they can do with tofu. It is kind of intimidating when they get that white block of stuff and they say, 'what the heck do I do with this?' So we showed them some excellent ways to prepare tofu." Hoy said using the local farmers markets, local manufactures and foods that are common in the region is important for residents of the region. "Salmon is one of them and we have a lot of really great agriculture around," she said. "One of the things that is compatible with what we are trying to do is link up our shoppers with local food providers and farmers." Now the Ashland Food Cooperative is undertaking an expansion of sorts as they will be moving and expanding the community classroom. "We are going to have almost a 1,000-square foot room over in the A Street Marketplace," Hoy explained. "We will refine our kitchen setup to have a more useful teaching kitchen there with some new appliances and a little more room to set up the room classroom style. "Basically, we are out of room here at our main location and we needed some extra office space. So when the opportunity came up to move the coop classroom offsite, we jumped on that so we can remodel our existing classroom into more office space." Classes will resume in mid-May once construction is completed. There will be a series of Monday night free lectures and day camps for kids focusing on organic gardening and cooking from your organic garden. For more information on these upcoming classes or on the Ashland Food Cooperative, call 482-2237. Mary Shaw is the culinary education coordinator for the co-op. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams