Year 13 students from PNBHS (Palmerston North Boys High School) started on their seven-week cooking course at Wholegrain Organics’ kitchen yesterday. They discovered some new tastes and textures, making a kumara kidney bean “chilli” on polenta with avocado smash and fresh coriander. The question is, will they be ready for running their own “pop-up cafe night” at the end of their seven weeks? Not only do we need to learn to cook, but also to present food attractively, and serve 🙂 Good start boys.
We practised knife skills dicing the organic onion, kumara, capsicum, tomatoes and garlic. Kumara cubes were seasoned and roasted in the oven before being added to sauteed onion/ garlic/capsicum mix. Cooked beans and fresh organic diced tomatoes completed the sauce which we served on slow-cooked polenta. Avocado was squashed with a fork and mixed with lime juice, salt and finely diced red onion to make a delicious topping. We also tried frying some set polenta squares for textural contrast. A yummy and satisfying dinner for all with plenty of plant-based protein and fresh flavours.
