Cooking Class

Aliyah Singleton

This past Wednesday was another day of trying new foods, and in my opinion it was the best new food experience so far. We went to Chicago Family Health Center up participate in a cooking class led by Chef Betty Nichols. Chef Betty was very funny, exciting, and ready to teach us her delicious vegetarian lasagna recipe. I loved how she got everyone involved with the class by having volunteers chop and stir vegetables. She also got her audience engaged in talking about different vegetables and what they do for the body. What I found vey interesting about Chef Betty is that she doesn't cook with salt or many seasonings and oils because she uses the natural properties of vegetables to give food flavor and moisture. 


I think her ideas are very healthy and smart because it's unnecessary to add fats, salts, and oils to foods that are meant to be healthy. When she and the volunteers finished prepping the lasagna and put it in the oven, she let us serve ourselves the vegetarian lasagna that she had already cooked. I can admit that I was a little hesitant to eat it because of all the squash, sweet potatoes, and broccoli, but when I ate it, it was really good. The lasagna was better than most meat lasagnas I've tried before, and I was so excited to learn this because I'm pretty sure I would even be able to cook this. I am also very scared to cook meat because I think I will get salmonella, but after learning this I now know a recipe for a delicious, vegetarian home-cooked meal.