Ms. Chaides' Students Make Succotash

Today Ms. Chaides' fourth grade students made succotash. This cooking experience is the culmination of the Three Sisters' Garden unit from their third grade year. Many Native American tribes planted a version of the Three Sisters' Garden with squash, corn and beans. Today we used a butternut squash harvested from a Marquez Three Sisters' garden as well as other vegetables donated by Gelson's.

Ms. Chaides' wrote the recipe on the board so the students could copy it onto recipe cards.

The amounts of vegetables and the colors of the peppers can be adjusted to suit your taste or what's on hand. We used yellow and red peppers to make the succotash colorful.

Succotash
·       3 tablespoons unsalted butter
        3 tablespoons (T.) olive oil
·       2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
·       ½-1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
·       2 medium red bell peppers, seeded, deveined, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
·       3 medium zucchini, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
·       1/2 ten-ounce packags frozen lima beans, rinsed under warm running water or defrosted and drained
·       ½ bag of frozen green beans or similar amount of fresh beans
·       4 ears of corn
·       Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
·       1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Note: we added 1/4 butternut squash cut in small pieces.

Directions:
1. Cut ingredients in small pieces. Scrape corn off the cobs.
2. Add butter and oil to pan and heat.
3. Add garlic and onion. Cook for 2 minutes
4. Add rest of ingredients and cook for 8-10 minutes until soft.
5. Save the vegetable scraps to compost.

Ms. Farrell's Class Makes Salsa

Today Ms. Farrell's 3rd grader made salsa, sauce in Spanish, as a followup to planting a salsa garden as 2nd graders. We used some of the green onions from the lower garden in the recipe. The tomatoes from the school garden have finished fruiting. The rest of the ingredients were donated by Gelson's, a supporter of our seed to table program.

Thanks to Beverly Jacobs, Joyce Kupp and Laurie Vander Veen for helping.

Salsa Recipe

8 tomatoes (assorted colors if possible) cut in small pieces
1/4 bunch of cilantro, torn in small pieces
2 cloves of garlic
3 green onions
3 T. lime juice
3 T. olive oil
1/4- 1 jalapeno pepper depending on taste

Wash hands. Cut all ingredients in small pieces. Use a garlic press or mince the garlic. Note: Take care to not rub eyes if handling garlic or peppers and to wash hands again after cutting. Serve with tortilla chips.

 We used different colors of heirloom tomatoes to make the salsa look pretty.

This is a recipe that the students can make at home.

Ms. Keller's Class Plants Lettuce and Marigold Seeds

Today Ms. Keller's students learned about Thomas Jefferson the gardener. We confirmed that he was the 3rd president, that he liked gardening and that he had a plantation called Monticello in Virginia. This year the students are planting heirloom seeds that have been saved at Monticello. Today they planted Brown Dutch Lettuce and Tennis Ball Lettuce. Some children also saved seeds from the dead marigold plants in the Jeffersonian Garden. They then planted some of the seeds.

Planting basics: add compost to the soil before planting a new crop (this is called amending the soil, or adding to it); when planting tiny seeds like lettuce and marigolds, barely cover the seeds with soil; water seeds daily; keep the red cover on the bed to keep squirrels away!

The children should keep track of how long until the various seeds germinate.

Today's scribes were Golden and Annalise.

Ms. Bihari's Class Makes Salsa

Today Ms. Bihari's 3rd grade class made salsa, sauce in Spanish, as a followup to planting a salsa garden as 2nd graders. We used some of the green onions from the lower garden in the recipe.

Thanks to Anna Zander and Laurie Vander Veen for helping.

Salsa Recipe

8 tomatoes (assorted colors if possible) cut in small pieces
1/4 bunch of cilantro, torn in small pieces
2 cloves of garlic
3 green onions
3 T. lime juice
3 T. olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper

Wash hands. Cut all ingredients in small pieces. Note: Take care to not rub eyes if handling garlic or peppers and to wash hands again after cutting. Serve with tortilla chips.

We discussed the importance of having food look attractive. Here we used different colors of heirloom tomatoes.

This is a recipe that the students can help make at home. We used plastic knives.

Ms. Palo's 4th Graders Make Succotash

 Today Ms. Palo's 4th graders made succotash, reinforcing their experience of planting a Three Sisters' garden in 3rd grade. The Three Sisters is a method of companion planting of corn, beans and squash used by many Native Americans including the Iroquois and Navajo. In addition to zucchini, we used a butternut squash that was harvested from Ms. Farrell's bed that the students had planted as 3rd graders.  We supplemented the school harvest with organic vegetables from Gelson's. The students did a great job in cutting the ingredients. Thanks to Linda Keston and Michelle Ross for helping!

The harvest from Ms. Farrell's bed

Colorful succotash

INGREDIENTS

·       1/4 cup olive oil

·       3 tablespoons unsalted butter

·       2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

·       ½-1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

·       2 medium red bell peppers, seeded, deveined, and cut into 1/4-inch dice

·       3 medium zucchini, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice

·       1 ten-ounce packages frozen lima beans, rinsed under warm running water and drained

·       ½ bag of frozen green beans or similar amount of fresh beans

·       4 ears of corn

·       Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

·       1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

DIRECTIONS

1.    In a large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion; cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add bell peppers, zucchini, lima beans, and corn. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add herbs.