N Street Village

Cooking our way through the year, one vegetable at a time, at N Street Village

It’s Thursday again, and residents of N Street Village, (which provides services to homeless women,) line up to attend Juliette’s “Vegetable of the Month” cooking program. This popular program, which “sells-out” every time, is a monthly event, which teaches the women about a seasonal vegetable, its history, cultivation, geographical origin and nutritional benefits. Women also learn how to cook the vegetable.

Tahar is mindful that the women have limited access to a kitchen and a limited budget, and therefore the vegetable of the month is prepared using a minimum number of ingredients and cooking gear.

“Basically,” Tahar explains “all you need is a skillet, a little bit of oil and salt, and a knife.” What is important to the success of the dish, is the “freshness of the vegetable and the person’s attitude as she cooks”. Tahar emphasizes shopping for seasonal produce, which tends to be cheaper and fresher, and insists on the women developing a sense of mindfulness about their cooking. This approach generates a lot of comments from the women, (who hail from many different countries,) and they reminisce about their past, sharing stories of family traditions and recipes. They all agree that when food is prepared with fresh ingredients and with love, it tastes much better.

One pre-designated scribe jots down the recipe, which she will format in her computer class and then distribute to the other program attendees. As the class ends, a few women raise their hands and request advanced cooking techniques to prepare whole grains and plant-based proteins. Tahar is confident that as time, space and her budget grow, the class can serve more women and a broader menu. For now, she wants to invite one woman at a time to be her guest assistant, so they can brush up on their knife skills.