Here’s one way to get kids excited about healthy eating: cooking alongside professional chefs.
During the first-ever Farm Fresh Festival, a free daylong event in South Street Seaport on Sept. 17 that explores where food comes from, children can participate in hands-on cooking demos where they’ll learn wholesome and easy recipes.
Participating companies in the Tastes of the Farm segment include Eataly, Dos Caminos, Grimmway Farms, Freshmade NYC, Veggiecation, Butter Beans, Blues Baking Bash, Chef CutiePie and Grow to Learn NYC.
Dos Caminos plans to show kids how to make its popular guacamole during the festival.
“Guacamole is the perfect healthy and easy-to-make snack or side,” says Dos Caminos executive chef Ivy Stark. “It’s a great source of potassium, heart-healthy fat and fiber, but the best part is that it feels like you’re indulging when you eat it.”
Stark recommends using the freshest ingredients possible, especially for the onions, as well as Hass avocados from California “because they have a creamier, denser texture than all other varieties.”
Dos Caminos makes its guacamole in molcajetes — a stone mortar — to grind the ingredients and bring out the flavor of the cilantro and onions, but Stark shared a recipe that doesn’t require its use in case you don’t have one.
Dos Caminos’ guacamole
Serves 4
4 ripe Haas avocados
3⁄4 cup yellow onion, diced
11⁄2 tbsp. jalapeno, diced
2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1⁄2 cup tomato, seeded and diced
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. kosher salt
Cut your avocado in half lengthwise and remove seed. The easiest way to do this is to lodge your knife into the seed and twist clockwise to remove seed. With the skin still on the avocado, “score” the avocado by slicing 1⁄2-inch strips lengthwise and 1⁄2-inch strips across so you end up with 1⁄2-inch cubes. With a spoon, scoop out avocado into a bowl and mash with a fork to a chunky yet creamy consistency.
Place your diced onions, jalapenos and half of the cilantro in a zip-lock bag. Seal bag, but leave a tiny opening so air can escape. On a firm flat surface, smash the onion mix with a mallet or a frying pan. Empty mix into bowl with avocado, and gently stir in remaining ingredients.
Also at the Farm Fresh Festival
Beyond cooking demos, here’s some of what else is in store at the Farm Fresh Festival, which aims to teach children about growing local, fresh foods and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle:
Meet the Farmers
Learn about planting and growing good with NYC farmers and groups including City Growers NYC, Edible Schoolyard NYC, Green Bronx Machine and Harlem Grown.
Farmers’ Market
Sample locally sourced foods from participating vendors including Fulton Stall Market, Randall’s Island Farm, Red Jacket Orchards and Shenandoah Growers.
Field of Dreams
Get moving with a variety of activities, games and sports with Kids in the Game, PopFit Kids, Sunpaddle and more.
Wagons & Wheels
See farm equipment up close, as well as participate in a bike adventure course.
IF YOU GO
Farm Fresh Festival for Kids is Sept. 17 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., FREE | South Street Seaport, Fulton and Front streets | register at farmfreshfestival.org
