Outreach
gracestlukes.org/outreach
Food Pantry News submitted by Carol Ann Mallory
For the past few months, GSL has partnered with the Church Health (CH) in its efforts to encourage and educate their patients about healthier eating. Cooking classes are offered by CH at their facility. Patients are then given the recipes and ingredients needed to make meals at home. GSL’s role in this venture is to provide CH patients with recipe ingredients, so they can make the meal at home. GSL volunteers shop for recipe ingredients, pack ingredients in bags, and distribute bags to CH. Many recipes include fresh produce, which often can be difficult to find at this time of year. GSL has partnered with Palazolo Produce, who generously has agreed to provide produce to include in the patient food bags that we pack. We are grateful to Mike Palazolo and his company for their interest and help in creating healthier diets for Memphians.
Garden Risotto
Ingredients generously provided by
Adapted from Food Network Yield: 4 Servings 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1½ cups Arborio rice 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt* Freshly ground black pepper to taste 3 cups baby spinach leaves (or other greens — turnip, chard, collards) 1 cup frozen peas (or small can of peas, drained)
Recipes provided by
1 zucchini, thinly sliced into half-moons Zest from 1 small lemon (optional) ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan* 1. In a medium saucepan, bring broth to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and keep warm.
Cook Well, Be Well
2. In another saucepan, heat oil over mediumhigh and sauté onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add dry rice and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of hot broth, stirring constantly until all liquid is absorbed.
VIRTUAL & IN-PERSON COMMUNITY COOKING CLASSES
3. Continue adding broth, 1 cup at a time. Allow each cup to be absorbed before adding the next cup. Use all liquid. Rice should be cooked through, tender and creamy.
This hands-on cooking class series teaches the Mediterranean Diet Principles, cooking skills and the Model for Healthy Living—a life balance tool.
4, Stir in greens, peas, and zucchini and cook until greens are wilted and zucchini is just tender. Remove from heat. 5. Stir in lemon zest and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Nutrition Facts per Serving Calories: 369; Fat: 5.4g; Carbohydrates: 70.7g; Sodium: 429mg (low salt diets can opt to not use ingredients marked with *); Fiber: 6.1g; Protein: 11.9g
Over the course of 4 weeks, participants will learn to become comfortable in the kitchen, build meals and flavor, stock a healthy pantry, and cook on a budget. This class is perfect for all levels of cooks who want to: • Learn healthy cooking skills
In other Food Pantry news, we have • Experiment with new flavors and healthy cooking techniques replaced the second, smaller freezer with • Use food to prevent and manage chronic a spacious, commercial refrigerator. Thank diseases you, Larry Busby, for your assistance To learn more, visit: in securing our new refrigerator. The churchhealth.org/CWBW extra freezer has been donated to Perea or contact: nutrition@churchhealth.org Elementary School’s food pantry. Perea staff were so grateful for this donation. This past fall semester, GSL School collected and donated a very generous amount of canned and dried goods to our food pantry. We are so thankful for their contribution! Finally, a huge thank you to those volunteers who have helped shop, pack, and distribute food bags. If you would like to volunteer to join the GSL Food Pantry team and pick up produce from Palazola on Saturday mornings between 9 and 10 a.m., please contact Jerry Hudson via Realm Connect (gracestlukes.org/realm) or contact Abby Huber in the church office (901-272-7425, ahuber@gracestlukes.org). The recipe for this month is printed above for your own use. Be sure to look for monthly menus in the GSL eNews and join us in cooking healthy. 8 | www.gracestlukes.org
