(Env)Iron(ment) Chef

Unleash your culinary genius with these five earthwise cooking classes

By Lucinda Michele Knapp

Sadly, too many greenies don’t actually know how to cook. Instead we
eat out at pricy sustainable restaurants — something we can afford less
and less as our pocketbooks shrink — or, when we’re piling into a
Denny’s booth with our friends at 1 am, we order the only thing on the
menu we can eat: fries.



Fret not, carb coveters. LA offers a veritable eco-cornucopia of vegan,
sustainable, organic, and even macrobiotic cooking classes, so you can
learn to whip up your own seasonal meals using goodies from local
farmers’ markets, or even from your own patio, saving money and
ensuring you know exactly what you’re putting into your mouth.



Whether you’re looking to incorporate more vegan foods into your diet
or searching for healing fare, we’ve hunted down the classes that will
ensure you never have to resort to a super-sized sleeve of salty spuds
again (unless you really want to).



1. Spork Foods

“We want people to discover that vegan food is more than brown rice and
tofu,” says Jenny Goldberg, half of the sister duo that is Spork Foods.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with brown rice and tofu,” laughs her
partner Heather. But it’s what the girls do with their vegan, organic
menu that really steals the show. Think caramelized banana wontons,
creamy carrot soup with herb sour cream, and purple potato rolled tacos
with roasted tomatillo salsa! Even non-vegans become regulars at Spork
classes. sporkfoods.com

http://www.lalunchbox.com/content.php?cid=2

Farmers Markets: An easy solution to your personal economic crisis!

As a professional vegan chef and cooking instructor, I've realized that I spend just as much time picking out vegetables as I do cooking them. So, since I spend a lot of time amongst the veggies I'd like to share some friendly advice about how vegetables are your saving grace in this tough economy.

1.  Plant foods are good for your bod as well as your pocket book.

Protein sources like lentils, which are totally affordable, can give you 18 grams of protein for one cup of cooked lentils! How much will a cup of organic Beluga lentils run you?  Around a buck.  For that buck you get the same amount of protein as a nine-dollar chicken.  Not only are you getting a less expensive protein, but you are also getting a ton of fiber, potassium, vitamin B1, a little copper, some other great minerals and you didn't kill a thing.  See my recipe below for Beluga Lentil Caviar with Vegan Crème Freshé! It will turn your lentil world upside down.

2.  Buy your veggies with some dirt on them, from a farmer's hands that also have dirt on them.

Vegetables purchased from a farmer's market are not only less expensive than the cut up pretty, plastic-packed baby carrots from V&%S or R@LP*S, but they also have more nutrients and antioxidants because they're so fresh, so they'll give you the vitamins and minerals you deserve as a hard working American.
Check out this great site for more info! http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/antioxi20205.cfm

3.  You work too hard to have your food not work for you.

If veggies have been sitting in a can or frozen on a shelf think of how little energy you will get from eating that "food."  Who knows how long they have been sitting there?  Even though nutrition labels make it seem like there's no difference between fresh, frozen, and canned, you will notice that you feel vibrant and more energized when you eat a freshly picked tomato as opposed to a canned one.

When vegetables are handled by many people before they get to your hot little hands, you end up paying a lot more money because of the process .   But at a farmers' market, you get your veggies directly from the people who picked them (and these people are often your salespeople at the farmers' markets, too)!

At a traditional mega-market, your food passes through a large crowd.  It will often go through scientists who engineer the food; pickers; chemical specialists who make the food shelf-stable; packers; truckers (or airplane pilots); shelf-stockers; mega-market cashiers … and finally wind up in your home.  You call that "fresh?"  And you put THAT in your mouth?!?!  You might as well suck on money.  If 20 people lined up and asked me, "Can we just caress your broccoli real quick before you eat that?  Thanks." I would be like, "Get your grubby hands off my broccoli!"  Even if I whip out my veggie wash and rinse the sucker –that ain't right!  

4.  Treat your veggies with the respect they deserve and highlight their flavor without masking it.

There is no need to explain this one, just make the amazing recipe below:

Beluga Lentil Caviar Served on Cucumber Slices with Crème fraiché:
Now I know what you are thinking.  Lentils = gas = no friends.  But there are ways of preparing your lentils that are tummy-friendly. Promise.

Ingredients:
1 cup organic Beluga lentils
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 piece kombu (a seaweed, sold dried)
1 Tbsp neutral tasting vegetable oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp capers
sea salt and pepper to taste
1 large English cucumber
½ cup vegan crème freshé (recipe follows)
2 Tbsp chives, finely chopped

Procedure:

Bring approximately 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the lentils, bay leaf, thyme, kombu and garlic, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Over a low flame, cover, and simmer for approximately 11-13 minutes or until cooked, but retaining a slight bite.  The kombu will expand, absorbing all the gasses in the lentils, making them more digestible for you. It has no taste or oceany smell.

Remove the lentils from heat.  Remove bay leaf, kombu and thyme, and strain off excess liquid.

In a sauté pan, heat the vegetable oil and fry the shallots until tender. Add the drained lentils, mustard, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper.  Cook for approximately 1-2 minutes.

Remove from heat, place the mixture in a bowl and add capers.

Remove a few strips of peel from the skin of the cucumber and slice about one quarter inch thick.  Place a half teaspoon of the lentils on top of the cucumber.

Garnish with crème freshe and chopped chives.  You can also serve the lentils on a toasted baguette.

Vegan Crème fraîche

Ingredients:
½ container non-hydrogenated cream cheese (Tofutti brand preferred)
1 ½ Tbsp light organic coconut milk
¼ ripe banana
1 tsp evaporated cane sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp orange juice
dash sea salt

Procedure:

In a mixer or food processor, whisk together the cream cheese, coconut milk and banana on high for about 30 seconds, or until well blended. Add the lemon juice, orange juice and sea salt.  Blend for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Refrigerate the crème overnight to develop the flavors.  

© Spork Foods, 2008
 
Our economy is taking a nose dive, people are getting cancer, or "The big C" as my dad calls it (he's from Brooklyn) – and when it comes to our health – the only person that can take care of you is you.  Start now and make it a delicious experience.

By Jenny Goldberg
Spork Foods
www.sporkfoods.com

The Wayward Foodie: Undercover Carnivore in a Vegan World
By Sarika Chawla FOR LA2DAY.COM 14 Nov 2008

Have you been itchin' to get in the kitchen? With the holidays breathing heavily down our necks, and the weather outside starting to turn chilly, now's the best time of year to brush up your culinary repertoire. Thankfully, there are cooking classes nationwide that can help you refine your techniques, revamp your standbys, and reignite your creativity.

Instructors: Jenny and Heather Goldberg
Theme: Foods of the Caribbean
Date: November 1–2
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Prices: $65 per person
Contact: sporkfoods.com

http://www.la2day.com/dining/food_trends_living_vegan_with_spork_foods

Food Trends: Living Vegan with Spork Foods
By Ginger Liu FOR LA2DAY.COM 01 Aug 2008

Welcome to Spork Foods and two sisters who want to change the world week-by-week with healthy gourmet vegan food and back to basics food education served with a generous sprinkle of family hospitality.

The Goldberg sisters started Spork Foods in January of this year. They are third generation Angelinos with a family history in entrepreneurship. Jenny is the chef and a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Culinary Arts in New York City and has a BA degree in Environmental Studies. She honed her skills in vegan restaurants in Los Angeles then decided to go it alone as a private chef. This soon evolved into the weekly cooking classes she has today. Jenny is on a mission to teach her community about the "beautiful healing power of food." She sees her classes as a community building exercise. "We are filling in the pieces lost in society from a generation of fast and convenient food."
Vegan Delights

Heather is in charge of the business and marketing side of Spork Foods. She works full-time at an environmental non-profit organization where she educates people's awareness in environmental issues. Heather talks about making their home inviting and familiar to their clients and points out the photographs of the sister's family that hang on the wall behind them. "We want to pick up the pieces from a generation lost on fast food," she says. Part of that philosophy starts at the table where the class sit and eat with the sisters after the food has been prepared.

Knowing that just the term 'Vegan' is enough to turn people away from their business, the name "Spork" was chosen as a fun way of demystifying the public's outdated point of view of vegan food. Jenny goes a step further by turning vegan into delicious gourmet and heart healthy food. Dishes such as Pear, Fig and Sage Tarts with Roasted Garlic Aioli and Pink Lemonade Cupcakes are certainly mouth watering enough to put a spanner in the works of most die-hard meat eaters. Plus it's all wheat, refined sugar, and dairy free.

Jenny suggests it's time to eat and we step in to the kitchen, which boasts picturesque views of Silver Lake from the window and a white tiled kitchen countertop to die for. Jenny had spent the day testing the dishes she will prepare for tomorrow's dessert class. Heather and I sit near the counter and chat while Jenny brings out the food.  I am spoiled with Cannoli stuffed with Orange Vegan Ricotta, Chocolate Mint Truffles, and Chocolate Kuala Donut and Cinnamon Glaze. These sisters really know a thing or two about hospitality.

There are 4 themed weekend classes that emphasize organic, local, sustainable, and seasonal ingredients. Jenny is also available for one-on-one consultations and will take you shopping around Silver Lake farmers market. Parents of vegans wishing to learn how to cook for their kids, other chefs, and repeat students have come along to the classes.  

If you care enough about your health and want to eat well, I urge you to take a class or two. You'll receive some sisterly love thrown in for good measure.
The Goldberg Sisters

Spork Foods
323.284.8733
www.sporkfoods.com

Better thyself: vegan cooking class
Save an animal, drop some lbs
By Alie Ward
Metromix
July 16, 2008

Better thyself: vegan cooking class
Spork sisters: Jenny and Heather Goldberg (Credit: deedee deGelia)

Marketing quiz: Which diet book would sell more copies, Skinny Bitch or Adopting a Cruelty-free Vegan Lifestyle? Yeah…the first one.

Here in L.A., there'd be very few people who, under oath, would say they didn't care about having a body mass index lower than that of their pudgy neighbor. With their staggeringly popular book Skinny Bitch, authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin created a title that at first glance appeared to be a diet book, but held a (surprise!) vegan manifesto between its slim covers. When Victoria Beckman was photographed clutching a copy, the book raced up the best-seller lists.

Silverlake-based gourmet catering company Spork Foods specializes in vegan cooking instruction and is endorsed by Freedman, who gushes, "One class with Spork and your life will never be the same!" (Weighty words from one of the skinniest bitches around.) I headed over to Spork on recent Sunday afternoon to get schooled in the art of eating without animals and wondered if my pants would get any looser in the process.

Spork is headquartered in co-founder Jenny Goldberg's breezy house, and students sit at her kitchen counter in a setting that feels more like a dinner party than a classroom. In fact, a table is already set for the post-instruction meal included with the class fee.

With a mop of red curls and a friendly but didactic demeanor, Goldberg chirps her way through our Vegan Italiano lesson. She demonstrates how to blend vegan sour cream into biscotti batter and lectures on which margarines are best for baking. A lasagna with soy-based béschamel sauce is layered with organic semolina noodles, sweet potatoes and spinach. There are no dead chickens or cow fluids in sight. Students pay $65 for the course and the meal, but sadly, no one gets their hands dirty. It's all observation and note taking, so for someone who's never operated a food processor or who uses socks as oven mitts, the lessons might not stick right away.

On the way home—my stomach stuffed from the menu of white bean spread on sprouted crostini, vegan lasagna and biscotti—I pondered just how skinny I would stay on a vegan diet this tasty. But Goldberg's many lessons have stayed with me, and the last time I headed out for groceries, I went to a farmers market rather than 7-11. Hey, it's a start.

http://www.la.cityzine.com/2008/06/15/gourmet-vegan-spork-foods/more-762



Gourmet Vegan Spork Foods
June 15th, 2008 Written by: Ginger

Open arms greet me at the door from the corner house on a quiet leafy street in Silver Lake. Jenny welcomes me with a hug and a smile and her plum-tinted curls bounce around her cheeks. I follow her up the stairs to the lounge area where the dining room is on a split level. We sit at the huge wooden dining table and wait for her sister to arrive. It isn't long before Heather bounces into the lounge, pushes her long golden hair from her face and takes her seat next to Jenny.

Welcome to Spork Foods and two sisters who want to change the world, week-by-week, with healthy gourmet vegan food, education, and outstanding hospitality.

The Goldberg sisters started Spork Foods in January of this year. They are third generation Angelinos with a family history in entrepreneurship: Jenny is the chef and a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Culinary Arts in New York City and has a BA degree in Environmental Studies. She honed her skills in vegan restaurants in Los Angeles then decided to go it alone as a private chef, which soon evolved into the weekly cooking classes she has today.

Jenny is on a mission to teach her community about the "beautiful healing power of food." She sees her classes as a community building exercise. "We are filling in the pieces lost in society from a generation of fast and convenient food." Heather is in charge of the business and marketing side of Spork Foods. She works full-time at an environmental non-profit organization where she makes people aware of environmental issues, in particular, caring for trees and in working with government agencies on water issues.

She talks about making their home inviting to their clients and points out the photographs of their family which hang on the wall behind them. "We want to pick up the pieces," she says, from a generation lost on fast food. The name "Spork" was chosen as a fun way of demystifying the public's stale point of view about vegan food then going a step further by turning vegan into gourmet, where Jenny prepares dishes like, Pear, Fig and Sage Tarts with Roasted Garlic Aioli and Pink Lemonade Cupcakes. And it's all wheat, refined sugar, and dairy free.

Jenny suggests it's time to eat and we step in to the kitchen, which boasts picturesque views of Silver Lake from the window, and a white tiled kitchen countertop to die for. Jenny had spent the day testing the dishes she will prepare for tomorrow's dessert class. Heather and I sit near the counter and chat while Jenny brings out the food. I am made to feel as home here in their kitchen as if I was a long time friend. Heather says that this is a deliberate and important side of the classes. She wants their students to feel at home and to have a good time, especially as so many people have anxieties about food and how to prepare it. Heather believes their classes share a unique family atmosphere that could only be passed down through generations of Goldbergs.And this idea resonates in the kitchen as I am spoilt with soy milk, cannoli stuffed with orange vegan ricotta, chocolate mint truffles, and chocolate Kuala donut and cinnamon glaze. These sisters really know a thing or two about hospitality.

They run four different themed classes every weekend which emphasize organic, local, sustainable, and seasonal ingredients. Jenny is available for one-on-one consultations and will take you shopping around Silver Lake farmers market. Parents of vegans, wishing to learn to cook for their kids, other chefs, and repeat students, have all come to the classes.

In the words of one of their students who wrote this on a comment sheet: "Awesome! So professional, so friendly, so food, oh and wonderful food."

Spork Foods
Silver Lake
(323) 284-8733

http://www.lime.com/food/story/19609/viva_vegan

By Abigail Lewis

One thing Americans love is a celebration, so when May 5 comes around, we welcome it with a snap of our fingers, a toss of a Margarita and a resounding olé! Popular lore holds that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day. Rather it commemorates a fateful event in 1862, when the Mexican army demolished the invading French cavalry. Thus we celebrate with tortillas instead of crepes.

Our south of the border neighbors are known for spicy, flavorful cooking, and Americans count burritos and tacos among their favorite foods. But what's an herbivore to do? Veggie stir-fry simply can't compare to a fragrant chicken enchilada, swimming in melted cheese and crowned with a dollop of sour cream.

Vegan Jenny Goldberg has taken up the challenge. A passionate chef trained at New York's Natural Gourmet Institute, where she "learned how to heal people through food," Chef Jenny and her environmentally-oriented sister Heather have made it their mission to inspire, educate and delight with animal-free cuisine via their gourmet vegan food company, Spork Foods. I joined a class at their airy, light-swept Los Angeles apartment one sunny Sunday, pleading for alternatives to broccoli and brown rice.

The ladies greeted our group — the third of four they entertain most weekends — with clear eyes, engaging smiles and margaritas, virgin or otherwise. Made with pure, organic lime juice, our drinks were refreshing and light, without the cloying sweetness of their corn syrup mixer cousins.

Jenny began artfully assembling our feast while we, her eager students, watched intently and took copious notes. The dishes she lovingly prepared were complex but not difficult, and utilized foods we all see on the market shelf but may be too timid to try, like quinoa (in shades of yellow, red and purple!), spelt tortillas and tofu sour cream. Instead of the familiar cheddar cheese, Jenny incorporated golden squash and orange bell peppers. Her prep counter was allegre with color: ruby tomatoes, rainforest green guacamole and sunny yellow corn.

Our fiesta was full-flavored and satisfying, stimulating and saturating my tastebuds as Mexican food should, with nary a nibble of queso. I ate to my heart's content, and still managed to lose a pound that day. And our second round of margaritas? This time, we all said si to tequila.

Check out Spork's delicious recipes for Butternut Squash and Spinach Enchiladas and Chipotle Dip.

laist.com

Vegan Cooking Classes with Spork Foods

On a side street in Silver Lake, two sisters open up their apartment every weekend to strangers who want to learn how to cook healthy and delicious vegan meals. Spork Foods began in December and has become a hit so far, with their small intimate cooking classes selling out quickly. Upcoming class topics include brunch, pizza, Jewish, desserts and more. A few weeks ago, they held their South East Asian class; here’s what happened:


Chef Jenny Goldberg teaches the classes with the assistance of her sister (in the background), Heather, who also runs the business aspects of Spork Foods. Jenny, who used to be a chef at Native Foods and Flore, has been a private chef for three years. Heather also works for TreePeople as the Executive Assistant to Andy Lipkis and Operations and Administrative Coordinator.



After the class, the students get to eat what was taught in the dining room. Here, you can get to know your classmates and ask more questions to the Spork girls. In this particular class, three people came from different counties -- Riverside, Santa Barbara and Orange.



Rice Noodles with Spinach and a Tangy Peanut Sauce



Sweet and Sour Tempeh with Peppers and Carrots



Caramelized Banana and Apple Spring Rolls




Each class costs $65 per person and runs approximately three hours long. After the teaching is done, you get to eat all the food.

By Zach Behrens