STONEY NAKODA – The Stoney Nakoda community kitchen was full of laughs, story sharing and chef collaboration at the second Sharing & Cooking event held with Stoney Adults and Elders at the Bearspaw Youth Centre on Monday (Feb. 25).
“I’m a diabetic and I wanted to learn how to cook healthy,” elder Madeline Labelle explained in the kitchen after chopping celery and mushrooms for a lentils and wild rice soup.
“This is something to help me and my family and I can pass it onto my grandkids.”
Initiated by Stoney Health Services, the new free cooking class was introduced earlier this year as a way to bring together adults and elders in the community, while also educating Nation members on the Wathtech, a healthy living food teepee designed by the Stoney health authority.
“People on the Nation are meat eaters,” Mayra Regan, Stoney Health Services dietitian said, with a laugh. “The elders asked how they can cook with more beans and lentils and this is a great way to show them how.”
Funded by a $2,000 Choosewell community grant through Alberta Recreation & Parks Association, the dietitians are focused on implementing Canada’s new Food Guide changes of eating plenty of vegetables, more whole grain foods and protein foods, limiting highly processed food, and using food labels, while also keeping a Stoney Nakoda twist by including traditional foods and wild meat, such as wild berries, wild rice, moose and bison.
“There is a need for programming that engages the elders and adults, so we can have the translation of knowledge with the Wathtech,” Lindsay MacCharles, Stoney Health Services dietitian explained. “We’ve been taking it month-by-month and we have a conversation of what they’d either like to cook with traditionally, or learn something new.”
The lentils and wild rice soup featured on Monday was handpicked by the elders as a dish where they wanted to use traditional foods and ingredients they are familiar with.
Delicious and educational, MacCharles and Regan showed how to utilize lentils for protein and also how to substitute dairy with alternatives such as coconut milk.
“It’s good. It’s something to do, a reason to get out of the house and a way to learn new recipes,” Tiona Labelle said in between stirring the soup.
In addition to teaching the new recipe, Regan also asked the adults and elders to read the packaging labels reminding everyone to look at the per cent daily value. Health Canada recommends five per cent and under is considered a little amount and anything over 15 per cent is a lot.
“I thought learning about healthy foods was interesting,” retired chef Josh Michael Mark said. “And I like teaching people how to cook.”
After being in the industry for 18 years, working as a Chiniki chef, Mark showed off his expertise chopping skills on an onion as Nation members shared stories.
“Community members like to come together to share stories and talk. For example, one elder told me about how during the floods they had a cook come in and make food for them and they made a stew that reminded her of this one,” MacCharles said.
So far, the elders and other Nation members seem to appreciate the class.
The first dish was a vegetable stir-fry with one elder sharing that she has already made it for her family twice since the January class.
The lentils and wild rice soup made on Monday was also a hit.
“It is really good,” said elder Mary Stephens, with everyone else noting they would definitely be making it again.
The next Sharing & Cooking class is March 25 at the Bearspaw Youth Centre.
At the end of the class, the elders and everyone talked about what dish to make next time with suggestions of other stews, lasagnas or a bannock and bread making class.
“Wild meat?” elder Margaret Wesley suggested.
“If you can bring us some,” Regan said with a smile.
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Lentils and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves
3 celery stalks, diced
1 cup of mushrooms, chopped
3 carrots, diced
1 cup dried green lentils
1 cup wild rice
7-8 cups vegetable broth
1 14oz can tomato paste
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp curry powder
Juice from 1-2 lemons
1 can coconut milk (optional)
Directions
- Sautee the onion and garlic in 1/4 cup of vegetable broth for 5-7 minutes.
- Add celery and carrots and cook another 5 minutes.
- Add lentils, rice, broth, cumin and tomato pasta. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, allow to simmer for 30-40 minutes until lentils and rice are cooked.
- Take off heat and add lemon juice to taste.
