Second Harvest to host Flavors of India Cooking Class

Spokane’s Second Harvest Food Bank will host Flavors of India Cooking Class, taught by registered dietitian Carolyn Negley, on May 15.

The Kitchen at Second Harvest is part of the nonprofit’s nutritional education efforts, providing information on how to use ingredients to create healthy meals.

“There’s a lot of nutritious, affordable food out there that people don’t always know how to cook,” Negley said. “So the kitchen was developed to really help bridge that gap and help people build up confidence in nourishing themselves and their families.”

Flavors of India is a unique class, as the curriculum was developed by both Negley and a nutrition ambassador from India.

“Someone applied to be a nutrition ambassador, and she was really gung -ho about getting involved,” Negley said. “She was like, ‘I’m only here for like, three weeks and I would love to teach a class before I leave, for Indian food’ because she’s from India.”

The Flavors of India happened to already be planned, so the ambassador stepped in to help plan the curriculum. One of the dishes is a family recipe.

“There’s a lot more culture that she’s able to share, and context,” Negley said. “There’s so much rich cultural history behind what we eat, and so getting to hear her story and hear what mealtimes actually look like in India, all of that was really fantastic for me.”

Flavors of India dishes include raita, kachumber salad, spiced and herbed basmati rice, dhingari mutter paneer and mango lassi, according to the Second Harvest Kitchen website.

The class runs from 5:30-7:30 p.m. May 15. Registration is $30 at secondharvestkitchen.org/classes-events.

In addition to cooking classes, the Kitchen at Second Harvest offers free community classes that teach students how to best use their available ingredients to cook nutritious meals.

“They’re open to everyone, especially people facing food insecurity,” Negley said.

Other upcoming cultural cooking classes include Cook Like a French Chef: An Exclusive Cooking Class with Chef Laurent on June 12, which will teach students how to make authentic French cuisine.

“I think there’s a lot of stories built into food and into sharing, like breaking bread, with someone,” Negley said. “There’s a rich social history in all that we do surrounding food.”