Cook This Kit is a program at UCLA that aims to teach college students about cooking, healthy eating, and farmers market produce in a way that is accessible, affordable, and fun. Through the creation of curated meal kits, students cook delicious and nourishing meals with guidance from simple recipes and demonstration videos.
This cookbook is a compilation of all of the recipes from the program throughout the past two years. While these recipes were initially created as a tool to teach students, they could really be used by any sort of novice cook as a gateway into a new way of cooking and eating. All recipes are seasonal and plant-based to encourage a sustainable way of eating that does not sacrifice deliciousness in the process. In addition, in an effort to make these recipes more approachable, they all require minimal equipment and cooking experience and come together in 30 minutes or less. Ultimately, you can work through the recipes yourself, tasting, adjusting, and learning in the process. These kits are like cooking training wheels, providing you with the building blocks to develop the skills and intuition of a good cook, so that eventually you will not need them.
Recipes include:
- roasted rainbow carrot + red onion couscous with mint, pomegranate seeds, & almonds
- homemade kale pesto with whole wheat fusilli, cherry tomatoes, & walnuts
- buckwheat soba noodles with lemon tahini sauce, snap peas, cucumbers, peas, & cilantro
