Locals learn how to cook for dietary needs

MOSES LAKE — For children, the term “food fight” brings to mind images of projectile pudding, spaghetti-stained T-shirts and an overall good time had by all but the clean-up crew.

But for adults who are tasked with cooking food — not only for themselves, but for friends and family — the ‘food fight’ is an ongoing battle over what to make and how to make it in a way that suits the hungry mouths to be fed. This is a task much easier said than done, especially given the variety of dietary strategies that exist today: sugar-free, gluten-free, paleo, low carb, vegetarian, vegan, and the list goes on.

So, when a rare opportunity for help in the kitchen was presented Wednesday night by the Samaritan Healthcare Foundation, about 40 locals capitalized.

The Foundation’s community relations committee teamed up with Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center (CB Tech) and Michael’s on the Lake to host its first-ever “Winning the Food Fight” event. The event was free to the public and allowed guests to taste more than a dozen different dishes, catering to various dietary needs, that were crafted by CB Tech’s culinary students. Michael’s on the Lake also revealed its new drink menu with a flight of “mocktail” samples.

The goal, said Samaritan Healthcare Foundation board member Chera Anderson, was to bring people together in a neighborly atmosphere and provide some healthy living tips.

“Our philosophy is that friendship and gathering and health information is all good for everyone, so that’s what we are trying to relay to the public,” Anderson said. “It’s what we are as a hospital – we are here to serve you.”

The community relations committee is made up of 12 volunteers, who were divided up into subcommittees to plan four community events throughout the year. The first was Samaritan’s Kid Zone at the Boys and Girls Club Fun Run in April. Wednesday’s event was the committee’s second of the year, and there are two more planned.

Anderson said the challenge of cooking for others is not to be understated. The Foundation was hoping to ease the burden and provide some tips and tricks to locals who need them in the kitchen.

“Everybody now has a different diet plan,” she said. “So what we wanted to do is have you be able to invite your friends and family to your house and be able to cook something for them that is based on their dietary needs. So bringing family and friends together with health in mind.”

To realize that vision, Anderson enlisted the help of CB Tech’s culinary program, which did not disappoint. In a span of two months or less, the students crafted all 15 of the recipes that were sampled Wednesday night under the parameters laid out by the Foundation. The sights and sounds inside the center’s industrial kitchen were proof that the dishes were not disappointing. Every guest left with a recipe book that contained the recipes for each dish, but some eagerly asked the students about their recipes and how they cooked the dishes.

“They have done a tremendous amount of work and we are very pleased with the food that they have prepared,” Anderson said.

With everything from fresh garden spring rolls, to creamy sun dried tomato parmesan chicken zoodles, to braided stuffed spinach and pepperoni gluten-free pizza, to turkey sausage zucchini boats, to gluten-free vegan alfredo and more, it was no surprise that guests were clamoring for more information. There were even health-conscious dessert options, like paleo chocolate brownies and flourless chocolate almond cake.

Anderson said the event came together just as the Foundation’s community relations committee had hoped, but with more people showing up than expected.

“It was fantastic,” she said.

Kim Pope, development and communications coordinator for Samaritan, said she hoped the event would shed light on the efforts of Samaritan’s Foundation and the community relations committee. The Foundation’s work supports the hospital and its programs and projects.

Pope said the next two programs planned by the community relations committee will be held in August and October. The August event will focus on assisting families with dementia-related challenges. The nucleus of the October event will be women’s health.

Ryan Minnerly can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.