What a great day of connecting with a group of educators and volunteers sharing outdoor learning ideas and touring South / Central Maui school gardens – organized by Anne Gachuhi of Home Gardening Support Network and Lehn Huff, Maui School Garden Network.
The Feb. 4 tour featured four schools – Kihei Elementary School, Lokelani Intermediate school, Kihei Charter School and Maui Hui Malama Learning Center.
Mahalo nui to Anne, Lehn, volunteers and other visitors for making this an awesome day. Special appreciation to Private Chef and Slow Food Maui member Jana McMahon and Suzanne Cleveland Carlson for preparing a beautiful, localicious lunch. We all cleaned our plates and asked for recipes. So.. Here you go! Mahalo Chef Jana for sharing!
The school garden movement on Maui is growing strong with so many schools now incorporating outdoor learning into curricula. This is wonderful news to all of us who would like to see keiki learn about food, nature and the environment at an earlier age. Curious about all the good things growing in our schools? Visit a school garden in your neighborhood and dig in!
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Kale Salad
1 bunch kale (I prefer Tuscan or Black)
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
¼ cup currants
1 large lemon
Oil (olive or grapeseed)
3 T. honey or agave nectar
¼ teaspoon salt
Shaved Parmesan
Shred the kale with your knife. Stack the leaves (no need to de-stem) and chiffonade the leaves as thinly as possible. They will look like very skinny ribbons.
In a small food processor or blender, add the lemon juice, an equal amount of oil, honey or agave and the salt. (I will juice the lemon into a glass-measuring cup and then add an equal amnt. of oil.) Blend until emulsified.
Toss kale with dressing and sprinkle currants and pine nuts on top. (Be sure to add the currants and pine nuts last so they don’t fall to the bottom of the salad bowl.) Top with shaved parmesan.
Live longer, eat your greens! Double the recipe, great the second day.
Quinoa Salad
4 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup thin sliced carrot
1 small pineapple, diced
2 papaya, peeled and cubed
4 cucumbers, seeded and diced
3 green onion, shaved thin
8 stems of rainbow chard, sliced thinly
juice of 2 oranges
zest of 1 orange
Mix all ingredients together and hand toss to incorporate.
Serve and enjoy.
“Namasu”
4 cucumbers, seeded and shaved thin
1/2 Maui onion, shaved thin
Dressing:
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
3 Tbls. Agave sweetener
1 tsp. shoyu
½ tsp. sea salt
Shave cucumber and onion very very thinly. Toss in a bowl.
In a jar, add the dressing ingredients. Shave vigorously until mixed well.
Pour the dressing over the cucumber and onions.
Let sit for 30 minutes. Toss occasionally to incorporate dressing.
Serve and enjoy.
Sesame Green Beans
1 lb. green beans, stem end cut off
Toasted sesame seeds
Sea Salt
Dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon
1/8 cup cider vinegar
½ cup raw tahini
¼ cup Braggs Amino Acids
1 cup olive oil
2 tsp. shoyu
½ tsp. sea salt
Boil green beans for 3 minutes. They will still be a bit undercooked.
Strain off water and let sit until room temperature.
In a Cuisanart, Vitamix or blender, combine all the dressing ingredients and blend until emulsified.
Toss dressing with the green beans, coating well.
Garnish and top with toasted sesame seeds and sea salt.