The Nourishing Kitchen of NYC not only provides free meals to people in need; it also offers free healthy cooking classes. To learn more about these and what healthy eating tips Gina Puzzanghera has to tell Harlem residents, read the article below.

Q: How does the Nourishing Kitchen work with community members to teach them cooking skills?

A: Something I'm most proud of is our free nutrition classes that people can join just by walking-in to our center-you don't have to sign up for them. We offer classes for adults, seniors, teenagers, and kids-we really want to serve everyone in Harlem. Most people who come to our classes are from East Harlem, and are low-income, elderly, or mothers. In the summer, we offer chef training programs to children so they can learn how to cook healthy meals at a young age.

Students are here because they're interested in learning how to cook healthy meals on a budget and they want to learn how to improve their cooking skills. We run the classes very informally and casually-so that people feel comfortable especially if they are new to cooking. People often need help learning how to shop for food that is healthy. We try to connect people to what's reasonable for their budget, culture, and lifestyle. We're not telling them to get organic food that they can't afford; we're trying to give them techniques to cook healthy and affordable meals. And, we're always changing the menu so we can show the students many different types of food.

The community nutrition classes are offered every other week on Mondays from 5:00pm to 6:00pm. These classes are for any person, at any age. The senior citizen classes are usually the last Tuesday of every month from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Check out our website to see a calendar of the nutrition classes.

Q: What are some techniques that people can do at home to cook meals with low-cost foods that still taste good and are healthy?

A: In our nutrition classes we try to teach people helpful ideas that they can use at home. For example, you can substitute lower-cost ingredients in recipes. Using canned chicken is cheaper than fresh chicken and it can taste just as good, as long as you wash it really well. Or, you don't have to use extra virgin olive oil; you can use regular olive oil that isn't as expensive and buy it in bulk. We teach people how to stock up on healthy and easy-to-cook and eat foods. I think buying in bulk and dividing the food into small easy-to-grab zip lock bags is good so you have a healthy snack with you when you're on the run. It's also helpful for parents to know so they have snacks for their children without having to spend extra money outside the home. The Nourishing Kitchen also tries to be culturally sensitive and cook what the community likes to eat. We ask our clients what they want to eat or learn to cook and then change the recipe so it's healthier. For example, a lot of our clients like to eat tacos, so we made fish tacos which are healthier because we used low-sodium fish instead of beef, yogurt instead of sour cream, and low-fat cheese instead of regular cheese. Some common tips I like to tell people are to eat whole wheat, brown rice, and low sodium foods. The price difference is very small, and the health benefits are huge when you eat these items.

Read more from Gina Puzzanghera by clicking the links below:

• Nourishing Kitchen of NYC
• Gina's involvement at Nourishing Kitchen
• Eating seasonally and locally

To listen to our interview with Gina Puzzanghera, click here for our podcast page.

Harlem Word is a series of interviews with community health experts written by HHPC and reviewed by our Health Advisory Board.