As you know, I really enjoy sharing my love for healthy living. So much, in fact, I helped plan a “healthy living” event for my office yesterday afternoon. š
With the assistance of Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) and the Food Literacy Project, we hosted a lunch, featuring recipes prepared with ingredients from the Farmers’ Market at Harvard, followed by a walking tour.
Ted Mayer, the Executive Director of Harvard University Dining Services, kicked-off the event with a quick welcome and explanation of HUDS’s role in responding to the College community’s growing interest in food. They’re doing quite a lot on campus!
Before enjoying a market-fresh lunch, the group watched a cooking demonstration given by Martin Breslin, the Director for Culinary Operations at Harvard. He showed us how to prepare a number of the recipes that we were about to taste.
Lunch was absolutely amazing! The menu was interesting and the food was incredibly fresh and flavorful! š
Holy yum! Lots of my favorites! š
Lunch included a Green Salad made with local greens and topped with maple cider vinaigrette.Ā I loved the vinaigrette! š
Mediterranean Salad
Serves 10
- 5 Yukon gold roasted potatoes
- 2 red peppers sautĆĀ©
- 1 Vidalia onion sautĆĀ©
- 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
- 1 pint quarter artichoke hearts
- 1 cup diced feta cheese
- 1 quarter diced local tomatoes
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- Salt & pepper
Directions: When cool, toss in a bowl and season.
Tomato-Bread Soup
Serves 10
- 1/2 cup diced onions
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup diced fennel
- 8 cloves garlic
- 4 cups chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup bread cubes
- 2 bunches of basil
- Salt & pepper
Directions: SautĆĀ© all the vegetables with olive oil, add garlic last. Blend and add diced bread. Add basil, season, and whisk in olive oil.
And, for dessert, we had the most amazing Baked Stuffed Apples made with local apples, cranberries, brown sugar, and some rather surprising (breadcrumbs and egg yolks!) ingredients.
I’ll be sure to post the recipe once I get it. These apples were out of this world, especially with a schoop of vanilla ice cream! š
After lunch, we took a guided walking tour of the Farmers’ Market at Harvard.
We chatted with a number of vendors and sampled all sorts of delicious food, including Concord grapes, fresh mozzarella, stone-ground chocolate, and exotic-flavored nuts. Mmmmm!
Unfortunately, my camera battery died at this point in the tour, so I wasn’t able to snap any more photos. Bummer. š
But, overall, the event was a great success! My collegues really seemed to enjoy themselves! Thank you, HUDS for helping me coordinate such a wonderful event!