Whole Living Daily

Cooking is an area where I need lots of help. Trying to feed my three kids healthy and inspired meals day after day challenges me, to say the least. Too often I give them the same old pasta dish with steamed broccoli and I am as bored with it as they are.So when my cousin signed me up for her friend Lorrie Huschle’s cooking class “Healthy Cooking for the Whole Family,” I jumped at the opportunity to attend.

Back Next

1 of 4

1 Lorrie with her children picking treasures at the farmers market. It's a great idea to bring your children along and have them help choose what you're going to eat for dinner.

2 The deliciously fresh ingredients for the bean salad.

3 The final product!

4

Lorrie, a Holistic Health Coach specializing in nutrition, wellness, and lifestyle coaching, focused the class on cooking healthy kid-friendly meals using local farm-fresh vegetables. Of course, she made it look super easy (not sure I can chop and dice quite as nimbly) but the dishes were delicious and relatively simple. When I switched the regular pasta and broccoli meal with one of Lorrie’s creations, my kids were happily surprised at the tasty dinner in front of them.

Here are some of my favorites from her class:

Summer Sautéed Corn

• 8 ears of fresh corn
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp cold-pressed, unrefined coconut oil
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (my kids didn’t mind the spicy flavor, but make sure that you get rid of all the seeds as it can get quite hot if you don’t remove them)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped – Lorrie had seen some fresh chives at the market that morning and grabbed them and added to the recipe.
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper

1. Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels off the corn into a large bowl.
2. Melt the coconut oil and butter in a sauté pan and add the corn, chives and jalapeno pepper.
3. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook on medium for three minutes, stirring frequently with a wide spatula.
4. Serve immediately.

Fresh Green Bean Salad with Sungold Tomatoes
Serves 4

• 1 pint fresh green beans, stem end snapped off and snapped into 2” pieces
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• ¼ cup dried cranberries (no sugar - fruit juice sweetened is OK)
• ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• ½ cup chopped yellow or red onion
• 1 pint Sungold cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

For the salad dressing:

• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Blanch the green beans in a large pot of boiling water for 2-3 minutes.
2. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and to keep them crisp-tender.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl mix the mashed garlic clove, white balsamic vinegar, agave nectar, salt, and
5. freshly ground black pepper together until combined.
6. Then add the olive oil and stir well.
7. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine.

Sign up for Lorrie’s newsletter here to receive future recipes and head off to your local farmer’s market this week to be inspired and enjoy the summer bounty. To find a farmer’s market and/or a Farm-to-Table cooking class in your area check on the Local Harvest website.

What are some of your favorite kid-friendly healthy recipes?

Francesca Olivieri is co-founder of sage baby, an online eco-friendly baby store offering everything from organic clothes and skin care to furniture. She also runs a green consulting business; blogs for The Family Groove and Scenic Hudson; and contributes to Daily Candy Kids, YogaCity, Citiscoop, and NRDC’s Simple Steps. Please visit her website at FrancescaOlivieri.com.